LGBT symbols
Over the course of its history, the LGBT community has adopted certain symbol s for Identity (social science)|self-identification to demonstrate unity, gay pride|pride , shared values, and allegiance to one another. These symbols communicate ideas, concepts, and identity both within their communities and to mainstream culture. The two symbols most recognized internationally are the pink triangle and the rainbow flag (LGBT)|rainbow flag . Letters and glyphs. Gender symbols. The female and male Gender symbol|gender symbols are derived from the astronomical symbols for the planets Venus and Mars respectively. In modern science, the singular symbol for Venus is used to  represent the Female|female sex , and singular symbol for Mars is used to represent the Male|male sex . File:Westerkerk - Gay symbols 2.jpg|thumb|130px|Lesbian and gay interlocked gender sex symbols Two interlocking female symbols (⚢) represent a lesbian or the lesbian community, and two interlocking male symbols (⚣) a gay male or the gay male community. These symbols first appeared in the 1970s. The symbols for the female (♀), male (♂), and combined male-female (⚦) combined (⚧) are used to represent transgender people, as is the simple combined symbol ⚦. Lambda. In 1970, graphic designer Tom Doerr selected the lower-case Greek  letter Lambda#Lower-case letter λ|lambda (λ) to be the symbol of the New York chapter of the Gay Activists Alliance . The alliance's literature states that Doerr chose the symbol specifically for its denotative meaning in the context of chemistry and Lambda transition|physics : "a complete exchange of energy–that moment or span of time witness to absolute activity". The lambda became associated with Gay Liberation , and in December 1974, it was officially declared the international symbol for gay and lesbian rights by the Outright Scotland|International Gay Rights Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland . The gay rights organization Lambda Legal and the American  Lambda Literary Foundation derive their names from this symbol. Plants and animals. |thumb|upright|Green Dianthus caryophyllus|carnation |thumb|right|upright| Acorus calamus|Sweet flag plant In :Category:19th century in England|19th-century England , green indicated homosexual affiliations, as popularized by gay author Oscar Wilde , who often wore a green carnation on his lapel. According to some interpretations, American poet Walt Whitman used the Acorus calamus|sweet flag plant to represent homoerotic love. External links. Category:LGBT symbols| Category:Human gender and sexuality symbols Category:Lists of symbols|LGBT