What Is a Beige Flag? What Being a Beige Flag Means
Updated: Mar. 13, 2024
We all have one!
Everyone has heard of green and red flags in dating—positive or negative signs of someone’s viability as a partner. But now, the internet is obsessed with a new flag: the beige flag.
Thousands of users have shared TikTok videos about their partners’ beige flags, receiving over 570 million cumulative views, and BuzzFeed has even made quizzes to identify your own beige flags. So, what exactly is a beige flag? Whether you’re currently dating or just want to keep up with new slang, here’s everything to know about beige flags.
On This Page
What does being a beige flag mean?
Like “negging” or “thirst trap,” “beige flag” is a new dating slang term. According to Urban Dictionary, as referenced in the below TikTok by influencer Lois Choi (@lois_choi), a beige flag is “something that’s neither good nor bad but makes you pause for a minute when you notice it and then just continue on. Something odd.”
Many social media users have pointed out that they have long used the term “yellow flag” to describe a dating partner’s quality that is neither negative nor positive. However, the perceived “oddness” of a habit is integral to its labeling as a beige flag. As commenters on Choi’s video put it, a beige flag references “harmless and weird behavior” and is basically “just another word for quirks.”
@lois_choi please ignore the background music, currently coparenting with ms. rachel 😂 #beigeflags #beigeflag #btsarmy #btsfyp #btstiktok ♬ Funny Background – Stefani
Beige flag examples
One particular example that helped a commenter “truly understand what a beige flag is” comes from TikToker Catherine O’Brien (@cat.elizabeth). In her video, she explains: “My boyfriend’s beige flag is that he sets timers instead of alarms. It’s midnight and he needs to get up at six? He’ll set a 6-hour timer.” Harmless? Yes. But also, incredibly mundane and somewhat unusual.
@cat.elizabeth #boyfriend #beigeflag ♬ Summer Background Jazz – Jazz Background Vibes
Can beige flags be applied to people outside of dating?
As the term gains traction online, users have begun applying it beyond the dating realm. TikTok user The Moon (@dumplingkingdom) says that their cat’s beige flag is that “she only stays calm in the car if I meow the national anthem to her.” Moreover, TikToker Bryana Ashley (@bryana_ashley) applied the beige flag to her best friend, calling out her propensity to “stop responding and opening messages for an unknown period of time.”
@bryana_ashley I stg @✨Keana Montgomery✨ ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ¤£ðŸ¤£ #beigeflag #trend #fyp #foryou #funny #bestfriend ♬ Summer Background Jazz – Jazz Background Vibes
Can one person’s beige flag be someone else’s red or green flag?
Beige flags—as well as red, green and yellow ones—are all subjective. Additionally, as the term has gained popularity, the definition may be getting muddled; many social media users have labeled behaviors as “beige flags” that others have called out as red or green ones.
For example, when one user made a video saying that her boyfriend’s beige flag was “that he gets impatient at restaurants and helps the waitress bring the plates to our table,” someone else on Twitter shared it with the caption, “Girl that’s not a beige flag that not even a red flag that’s an air raid siren.” Check out the early warning signs of unhealthy relationships.
Girl that’s not a beige flag that not even a red flag that’s an air raid siren https://t.co/HspoClNqdZ
— Jordan Blok (@Jordanbloked) June 4, 2023
On the other hand, another Twitter user wrote that “tiktok’s beige flags are the greenest most insanely healthy and amazing flags i have ever seen in my life.”
tiktok’s beige flags are the greenest most insanely healthy and amazing flags i have ever seen in my life
— malak (@direcatt) June 2, 2023
Examples include TikToker Taylor B. (@its.taylor.bee)’s boyfriend having “no rizz” and waiting to kiss her because he “respect[ed] [her] as a human being” and Cari Bear (@bitchybearz)’s boyfriend “randomly throw[ing] [her] themed surprise parties.” No matter what you call these behaviors, we stan a supportive, respectful partner.
