Explain Like I'm 35: What is a Beige Flag? (May 28, 2023)

Ally Perry • Writer and Editor

May 28, 2023 1:00 PM EDT

The big old conundrum of love! It's simultaneously one of the best and worst things in the world. While it can be easy, it's never simple. This is true of every type, but never more so than with our romantic relationships. We are not-so-subtly indoctrinated that who we partner up with (or get rejected by) defines a lot about our social status and self worth. It's one of the few things that crosses the great divides of every different background, and this makes it into a topic that we simply cannot. Stop. Talking. About.

Seriously, the politics of coupling up get discussed with alarming regularity on just about every corner of the internet where people converse. Observe how happy this marriage is, and how a bunch of strangers disagree. Look at this insane thing this guy said on a dating app. Use this exact formula if you want to get a rich dude to 'provide' for you. Every single base is covered, but perhaps the one that gets repeated the most is any variation on 'is this person right for me?'.

The glory of social media has helped us come up with numerous memeable terms to identify the answers to this question. Anyone younger and at least vaguely online knows about phenomena like f*ckboys or situationships.

However, one of the most talked about of recent times has to be the notorious red flag; those little or large warning signs that somebody might not be the one. They are something that many have a tendency to run into like bulls, and it makes them great conversation starters for storytime TikToks.

It's such a popular concept that the flag collection has recently been added to. The beige flag has a kind of confusing name, but it's a simple concept. It describes a trait of a romantic partner that doesn't signal that you should run for the hills, but it is somewhat quirky and unique to them. In essence, it's an excuse for people to talk about their significant others without needing any dramatics to capture our attention. It can be cute, if you don't begrudge the fact we have yet another phrase with which to describe modern dating. Certain things don't need overthinking.