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The a-spec flag.

A-spec (or A-spectrum) is an umbrella term for all identities on the asexual and aromantic spectrums. A-spec can describe an individual who is on the asexual spectrum, the aromantic spectrum, or both.

A-spec is also sometimes used more broadly to include other identities that use the "a-" prefix, such as agender and aplatonic.^[1] Aroace agender is sometimes called AAA-spec (pronounced "triple-A-spec").

Controversy

Asexual and aromantic individuals have sometimes been accused of appropriating the term "a-spec" from the autistic community. However, the term was created in 2015 specifically for aces and aros and had no prior usage history.^[2]^[3]

Within the asexual and aromantic communities, the use of the term "a-spec" has also been criticized for introducing confusion through frequent misuse, particularly regarding asexuals using "a-spec" when only asexual spectrum (ace-spec) individuals are relevant or through saying "a-spec and aro-spec", implying that the aromantic spectrum is not inherently included under the a-spec umbrella. Unfortunately, for some individuals, "a-spec" and "ace-spec" are phonetically indistinguishable when spoken aloud.^[4]

History

Tumblr users warriorsdebt, whes, and strategicgoat introduced the term a-spectrum in 2015.^[5]

Flag

Tumblr user the-moon-is-aroace created the a-spec flag on March 25th, 2019.^[6] The compass rose in the middle symbolises how individuals all experience attraction differently, if at all. The green and purple are on opposite sides of the quadrant to show that asexuality and aromanticism are separate and independent identities, with the black and grey quadrants connecting them. Black represents the aroace community, and grey represents grey communities.

Tumblr users sapphic-squirrel and hetaces designed the aloe vera a-spec flag with help from the Inclusionist Discord Server, and they posted it on November 17th, 2019.^[7] It was designed to mimic the sapphic, achillean, diamoric, and pluralian flags with three stripes and one plant. The green is for aromantics, the purple for asexuals, and the grey is for the grey area between "a-" identities and "allo-" identities (including those that don't have solid labels but know they are somewhere under the umbrellas of asexual or aromantic).

Tumblr user untitled-google-docs-document created an alternative flag on July 5th, 2022.^[8] She created this flag mainly because the a-spec flags have only included aro and ace individuals and not aplatonic and agender individuals. Thus, she wanted to make a flag inclusive to all a-spec individuals. The green stripe represents aromantic and agender individuals. The yellow string represents love and relationships outside of amatonormative ideas, how the community fights against amatonormativity and radicalises the word "love", and tertiary attraction. The white stripes represent the diversity of the a-spec community. The blue stripe represents anyone who is aplatonic. The purple stripe represents asexual individuals and the a-spec community as a whole. The compass rose symbol was inspired by the-moon-is-aroace's a-spec flag, only changing the colour for aesthetic reasons.

References

[1] ttps://archive.today/2020.08.09-195810/https://asafetynet.tumblr.com/post/112827135411/a-spectrum-safety-net

[2] ttps://archive.today/2018.04.14-072616/http://historicallyace.tumblr.com/post/161502315942/do-you-per-chance-know-when-asexuals-first

[3] ttps://archive.today/2022.02.03-130600/https://apersnicketylemon.tumblr.com/post/189192893072/aspec-does-not-and-has-never-meant-autism

[4] ttps://archive.today/2022.02.03-130945/https://shades-of-grayro.tumblr.com/post/190426507065/again-im-not-critiquing-the-usefulness-of-a-word

[5] ttps://archive.today/2020.08.09-200247/https://warriorsdebt.tumblr.com/post/157795101420/wetwareproblem-aphobephobe-wetwareproblem

[6] ttps://archive.today/2022.02.04-122940/https://the-moon-is-aroace.tumblr.com/post/183702972387/a-new-flag-for-the-aspec-community-just-an-idea-i

[7] ttps://archive.today/2021.12.07-223350/https://sapphic-squirrel.tumblr.com/post/189130109062/hello-everyone-i-want-to-present-a-community-flag

[8] ttps://archive.today/https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/untitled-google-docs-document/688973602249408512?source=share

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[File:A-spec.svg|thumb|220x220px|A possible a-spec flag.|alt=A flag with four colored rectangles. The top-right is dark green, the top left is black, the bottom right is gray, the bottom left is purple. There is a white star in the middle. ]]
+[[File:A-spec.svg|thumb|220x220px|The a-spec flag.|alt=A flag with four coloured rectangles. The top right is dark green, the top left is black, the bottom right is grey, and the bottom left is purple. There is a white star in the middle.]]
+[[File:Aspec.png|thumb|The aloe vera a-spec flag.|180x180px]]
-'''A-spec''' (or '''A-spectrum''') is an umbrella term for all identities on the [[Asexual Spectrum|asexual spectrum]] and [[Aromantic Spectrum|aromantic spectrum]]. It can be used for anyone on the asexual spectrum, aromantic spectrum, or both. It is also sometimes used more broadly to include other identities that use the "a-" prefix, such as [[agender]] and [[aplatonic]].<ref>https://asafetynet.tumblr.com/post/112827135411/a-spectrum-safety-net</ref> [[Aroace agender]] is sometimes referred to as AAA-spec.
-[[File:A spec flag.png|thumb|200x200px|The redesigned aloe vera flag.]]
+[[File:A spec flag.png|thumb|180x180px|The redesigned aloe vera a-spec flag.]]
+[[File:Aroace aspec flag.jpg|alt=|thumb|The striped a-spec flag.|180x180px]]
-The term a-spectrum was introduced by Tumblr users warriorsdebt, whes, and strategicgoat in 2015.<ref>https://warriorsdebt.tumblr.com/post/157795101420/wetwareproblem-aphobephobe-wetwareproblem</ref>
+[[File:Alt A-Spec Flag.jpg|thumb|180x180px|Alternative a-spec flag.]]
-== Controversy ==
+'''A-spec''' (or '''A-spectrum''') is an [[Umbrella Term|umbrella term]] for all identities on the [[Asexual Spectrum|asexual]] and [[Aromantic Spectrum|aromantic]] spectrums. A-spec can describe an individual who is on the asexual spectrum, the aromantic spectrum, or [[Aroace Spectrum|both]].
-Aces and aros have sometimes been accused of appropriating the term "a-spec" from the autistic community. This is impossible, as the term was created in 2015 specifically for aces and aros and has no prior usage history before that point.<ref>https://historicallyace.tumblr.com/post/161502315942/do-you-per-chance-know-when-asexuals-first</ref><ref>https://apersnicketylemon.tumblr.com/post/189192893072/aspec-does-not-and-has-never-meant-autism</ref>
+A-spec is also sometimes used more broadly to include other identities that use the "a-" prefix, such as [[Agender|agender]] and [[Aplatonic|aplatonic]].<ref>{{Archive|URL=2020.08.09-195810/https://asafetynet.tumblr.com/post/112827135411/a-spectrum-safety-net}}</ref> [[Aroace Agender|Aroace agender]] is sometimes called AAA-spec (pronounced "triple-A-spec").
-With the ace and aro communities, use of the term "a-spec" has also been criticized for introducing confusion through frequent misuse, particularly regarding asexuals using "a-spec" when only ace-spec people are relevant, or though saying "a-spec and aro-spec", implying that aro-spec is not inherently inherently included under a-spec. Unfortunately, for some people, "a-spec" and "ace-spec" are phonetically indistinguishable when spoken aloud.<ref>https://shades-of-grayro.tumblr.com/post/190426507065/again-im-not-critiquing-the-usefulness-of-a-word</ref>
+==Controversy==
+[[Asexual]] and [[Aromantic|aromantic]] individuals have sometimes been accused of appropriating the term "a-spec" from the autistic community. However, the term was created in 2015 specifically for aces and aros and had no prior usage history.<ref>{{Archive|URL=2018.04.14-072616/http://historicallyace.tumblr.com/post/161502315942/do-you-per-chance-know-when-asexuals-first}}</ref><ref>{{Archive|URL=2022.02.03-130600/https://apersnicketylemon.tumblr.com/post/189192893072/aspec-does-not-and-has-never-meant-autism}}</ref>
+Within the asexual and aromantic communities, the use of the term "a-spec" has also been criticized for introducing confusion through frequent misuse, particularly regarding asexuals using "a-spec" when only asexual spectrum (ace-spec) individuals are relevant or through saying "a-spec and aro-spec", implying that the aromantic spectrum is not inherently included under the a-spec umbrella. Unfortunately, for some individuals, "a-spec" and "ace-spec" are phonetically indistinguishable when spoken aloud.<ref>{{Archive|URL=2022.02.03-130945/https://shades-of-grayro.tumblr.com/post/190426507065/again-im-not-critiquing-the-usefulness-of-a-word}}</ref>
-== Flag ==
-[[File:Aroace aspec flag.jpg|alt=|thumb|An alternative striped A-Spec flag by RavenFire803 on July 6th, 2021]]
-The a-spec flag was created by Tumblr user The-Moon-Is-Aroace on March 25, 2019.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20200809185542/https://the-moon-is-aroace.tumblr.com/post/183702972387/a-new-flag-for-the-aspec-community-just-an-idea-i</ref> The compass rose in the middle is a symbol of how people all experience attraction in different ways, if at all. The green and purple are on opposite sides of the quadrant to show that [[Asexual|asexuality]] and [[Aromantic|aromanticism]] are their own separate and independent identities, with the black and grey quadrants connecting them. Black represents the [[aroace]] community and grey represents grey communities.
-[[File:Aspec.png|thumb|The original aloe vera a-spec flag]]
-The aloe vera a-spec flag was designed by Tumblr users Sapphic-Squirrel and Hetaces with help from the Inclusionist Discord Server and was posted on November 17, 2019.<ref>https://sapphic-squirrel.tumblr.com/post/189130109062/hello-everyone-i-want-to-present-a-community-flag</ref> It was designed to mimic the [[sapphic]], [[achillean]], [[diamoric]], and [[pluralian]] flags with three stripes and one plant. The green is for aromantics, the purple for asexuals, and grey is for the grey area between a- identities and [[Allosexual|allo-]] identities which would represent [[Greyasexual|greyasexuals]], [[Greyromantic|greyromantics]], [[Demisexual|demisexuals]], [[Demiromantic|demiromantics]], other [[Mesi Aromantic|mesi aros]], [[Mesi Asexual|mesi aces]], [[Split Attraction Model (SAM)|split attraction]] users, and those that don't have solid labels but know they are somewhere under the umbrellas of asexual or aromantic.
+==History==
-The aloe vera flag was redesigned by RavenFire803 on July 1th, 2021 to represent the larger community. The aloe symbol was made to be both green and purple instead of just green to show balance.
+Tumblr users [https://www.tumblr.com/warriorsdebt warriorsdebt], whes, and [https://www.tumblr.com/strategicgoat strategicgoat] introduced the term a-spectrum in 2015.<ref>{{Archive|URL=2020.08.09-200247/https://warriorsdebt.tumblr.com/post/157795101420/wetwareproblem-aphobephobe-wetwareproblem}}</ref>
+==Flag==
+Tumblr user [https://www.tumblr.com/the-moon-is-aroace the-moon-is-aroace] created the a-spec flag on March 25th, 2019.<ref>{{Archive|URL=2022.02.04-122940/https://the-moon-is-aroace.tumblr.com/post/183702972387/a-new-flag-for-the-aspec-community-just-an-idea-i}}</ref> The compass rose in the middle symbolises how individuals all experience [[Attraction|attraction]] differently, if at all. The green and purple are on opposite sides of the quadrant to show that asexuality and aromanticism are separate and independent identities, with the black and grey quadrants connecting them. Black represents the [[Aroace|aroace]] community, and grey represents grey communities.
+Tumblr users [https://www.tumblr.com/sapphic-squirrel sapphic-squirrel] and [https://www.tumblr.com/hetaces hetaces] designed the aloe vera a-spec flag with help from the Inclusionist Discord Server, and they posted it on November 17th, 2019.<ref>{{Archive|URL=2021.12.07-223350/https://sapphic-squirrel.tumblr.com/post/189130109062/hello-everyone-i-want-to-present-a-community-flag}}</ref> It was designed to mimic the [[Sapphic|sapphic]], [[Achillean|achillean]], [[Diamoric|diamoric]], and [[Pluralian|pluralian]] flags with three stripes and one plant. The green is for aromantics, the purple for asexuals, and the grey is for the grey area between "a-" identities and "allo-" identities (including those that don't have solid labels but know they are somewhere under the umbrellas of asexual or aromantic).
-<references />[[Category:Terminology]]
+Tumblr user [https://www.tumblr.com/untitled-google-docs-document untitled-google-docs-document] created an alternative flag on July 5th, 2022.<ref>{{Archive|Site=today|URL=https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/untitled-google-docs-document/688973602249408512?source=share}}</ref> She created this flag mainly because the a-spec flags have only included aro and ace individuals and not aplatonic and agender individuals. Thus, she wanted to make a flag inclusive to all a-spec individuals. The green stripe represents aromantic and agender individuals. The yellow string represents love and relationships outside of amatonormative ideas, how the community fights against [[Amatonormativity|amatonormativity]] and radicalises the word "love", and [[Tertiary Attraction|tertiary attraction]]. The white stripes represent the diversity of the a-spec community. The blue stripe represents anyone who is aplatonic. The purple stripe represents asexual individuals and the a-spec community as a whole. The compass rose symbol was inspired by the-moon-is-aroace's a-spec flag, only changing the colour for aesthetic reasons.
+==References==
 [[Category:Identity]]
-[[Category:Ace-spec identity]]
+[[Category:Verified Resources]]
-[[Category:Aro-spec identity]]
+[[Category:A-spec Identity]]
+[[Category:Umbrella Terms]]