2022 Update

Graham Houser, a special needs teacher from Oregon, printed out a real version of this flag to display proudly on the classroom wall. Other teachers loved the design and knew exactly what it meant without an explanation. Houser now uses this flag to spark discussion among his autistic students about how they see themselves. It was lovely to hear this positive update!

Proposed flag of autism acceptance

Here’s a flag design for autism acceptance, developed in conjunction with NAVA’s Flag Design Gauntlet. I’m on the autism spectrum and some autistic communities have already proposed some symbols and flag designs, so I thought I’d try an idea of my own.

This design is simple enough to be remembered by a child, yet distinct enough to be recognised at a distance. The golden infinity symbol is an existing autistic symbol representing the diversity of neurological configurations. In my flag design, the golden infinity symbol is placed within the head to make the meaning more intuitive.

The gold represents warmth and acceptance. The purple represents unconventionality. Together, the gold and purple represent hope that our differences will be understood, accepted and embraced.

I deliberately avoided the rainbow infinity symbol because it represents all of “neurodiversity” and is too broad.

Vector files available on request.