How to Vote (for a New Polyamorous Flag)

It’s just about time to vote for a new polyamorous flag! From November 1st to 22nd, people around the world who’ve signed up to vote will receive an email, and have the opportunity to make their voice heard.

The primary goal of the PolyamProud project has been the same from the beginning: to replace the variety of flags used over the years with something new, beautiful, free for everyone to use, and chosen in a publicly accessible voting process .

But how does it all work?

Step 1: Sign up to Vote

If you haven’t already, make sure you’ve signed up to vote! This means you’ll receive an email alert when voting opens.

(If you’re just hearing about this and voting has already begun, you can still sign up and vote during the voting period.)

Step 2: Receive the Voting Email

On, or shortly after, November 1st, you’ll receive an email inviting you to vote for a new polyamory flag. There’ll be a link in that email which will take you to the voting platform.

Step 3: Cast Your Vote

By following the link in your email, you’ll be taken to a custom-built voting platform made by Polyampirates, hosted by them on a separate server.

You’ll have four candidate flag designs to choose from. While we received many, many flag designs, these final four are the ones chosen by our selection committee.

The candidate flag designs will appear in random order to each voter, so none of the options will have visual priority. In addition to the flag design itself, there will also be a description of the design and the intended meaning of the components.

Voting is done by ranked choice, which means that you decide your preferred choices in order of which designs you like the most, and which you'd still like and use (but like a little less).

As we wrote in Voting for a New Flag: “This means that the final result will reflect the majority of people who vote, as you rank them in the order of your preference: one, two, three, and so forth. If your vote cannot help your top choice win (if you’re in the minority of people voting for it), then your vote counts for your next choice.”

Additionally, if one flag gets more than 50% of all the votes ranking it as first preferred choice, then it automatically wins. If not, there’s an instant run-off.

Once you’ve voted, you’ll see a message on the website confirming your vote has been received. Everyone gets just one vote: to ensure the integrity of the results this will be tracked by email verification and a bot filter.

Step 4: Learning the Results

We at PolyamProud won’t have access to the results until voting is closed. Once we’ve received the final results we’ll announce the winner via email, across this website, and on our social media platforms.

Step 5: What Happens Next?

Once votes are collated and the winning flag design is announced, we’ll then move to register the flag design under a creative commons license. This ensures that it will be available and accessible to the public, and you can start using it.

We’re also planning to get in touch with various creators and manufacturers (such as etsy and redbubble shops, flagmakers, pride merch companies, and social media content creators) to let them know about the new flag, so that they have the option to produce new items with the design. All of which means you’ll have the option to buy items showcasing the new flag, to show off your pride with!

Additionally, although it may not make it onto the final flag design voted for, the five-heart symbol we designed to represent this initiative is already available for public use. As with the eventual flag chosen, it’s a gesture from us to you that we’re not interested in or poised to profit from this initiative—we just want a better flag for everyone.

We’re really excited to be so close to having a new flag available to represent us as polyamorous and consensually non-monogamous people and communities. So if you haven’t signed up to vote, get to it - it’s nearly time to have your say!

Any questions about the process? Feel free to comment here, email us, or get in touch on instagram, facebook, or twitter!