You might be aware of red and green flags in a relationship. But did you know there are other colours of flags too? Now something that’s trending is the Beige flag. The Pioneer’s Tejal Sinha brings to you details of what this trend is all about.
Dating these days is hard. If it weren’t, there wouldn’t be as many applications for improving it or films about its difficulties, and people wouldn’t go on more than one first date.That would certainly be wonderful. However, there are methods to have more control over your dating life, one of which is to use the power of self-reflection. To be specific, don’t underestimate the power of different flags in your relationship.
You know how every colour denotes something different? Red is associated with love, passion, wrath, or danger. White is associated with peace and purity. Yellow is associated with happiness and hope. Green is associated with development and abundance. These colours all have significance since they each stand for something different. Because of this, it’s crucial to understand and be able to differentiate between the meanings of each colour.
Similar to how different flag colours denote different things in a partnership. These coloured flags, such as red, green, and pink flags, represent many things and aid in determining whether a connection is what a person needs in their life or is headed for trouble.
Well, you might have heard about the red, green, yellow, pink, or orange flag, but did you know there’s also a Beige flag? The obsession with analysing “red” and “green” flags in potential partners on social media has almost completely lost all relevance because any attribute may be rated as excellent or concerning. A new category known as “beige flags” is now emerging. The word is being used by throngs of social media (Tik Tok) users to reveal their spouses’ silliest personality quirks or bizarre behavioural tics — things that don’t exactly raise red or green flags.
Before we dive deep into what a beige flag is, let’s understand why certain things among the partners are given a certain colour tag. “The Colour Code is a personality test. It can help you know your “someone special” better on a deeper level as you will understand his or her strengths, weaknesses, wants, and needs effectively,” explained Dr. Girishchandra, Sr. Consultant, Psychiatry, Aster CMI Hospital, Bangalore.
Accordingly, he further states that it will help you learn about his or her emotional needs and wants, strengths and weaknesses, and communication preferences in a way that will strengthen the relationship on a long-term basis.
He said, “The Colour Code is a new measurement that gauges one’s personality. Though these are not backed by any scientific research, they can be the indicators that give you direction and help you understand how to make sense of relationships. Though it does not talk explicitly about one’s mental health, it can certainly impact one’s thought process.”
Going by the rules, interpretation, and over-analysis could strain the relationship. Instead of focusing on the partner and bonding, the person may tend to define the rules and ignore the positive aspects of the relationship, leading to overthinking and health issues such as headaches, anger, and irritability.Getting back to beige flag, off late especially on Tik Tok, and now some on Instagram too share “My boyfriend’s or girlfriend’s beige flag is……”.
Some examples of beige flag could be having a biscuit dipped in water or Maggie with ketchup. Beige flags are completely different from things that give you “the ick”. Giving “the ick” is a turn-off that, to those who are unaware, is nauseating and uncomfortable.
The trend is lighthearted. People seem to be enjoying the chance to share an odd trait with millions of strangers. According to reports, “Users are using it to endearingly expose their partners’ odd and otherwise random behavioural traits.”
To gather some more clarity on this, we connect with Swapna Joshi, a mental health specialist and relationship expert who shares that, going by what the trend states, “The beige flags are the cringe or odd habits of someone’s partner.” However, Urban Dictionary offers a different definition, seemingly only applicable to online dating profiles: “Beige flags are a sign that someone is boring or lacks originality. Many people use “beige flags,” which are either generic or even cliche, in their profiles.”
“The little peculiarities you notice about a person when you first start dating them are best characterised as beige flags. They could not be dealbreakers like red flags, which are warning indications that shouldn’t be disregarded, but rather strange characteristics or amusing tendencies that the other person in the relationship perceives as not ideal.
The idea that you can be turned off by a very small, precise item and never regain interest in your spouse is intimately associated with “ick” culture and beige flags,” highlighted Swapna.
She further continued, “Even though being aware of common red and green flags might be useful, continually keeping an eye out for beige flags can make the features they are associated with seem intrinsically dangerous and should be avoided at all costs rather than benign in the end. If a person is otherwise kind and a good listener, why does it matter if their passionate love for The Office plays a significant role in who they are? Is someone’s desire to make their prospective partner comfortable and happy really going to be outweighed by the minor annoyance of the fact that they have strong feelings about pineapple on pizza?”
Every single person has characteristics of their personality that other people might find uninteresting. As long as one doesn’t exploit these characteristics to pretend to be smarter than others, they are harmless. Beige flags try to make the subjective concept of boredom objective, which alienates those who have particular characteristics or hobbies and makes it more difficult for them to find romantic partners.
In the end, it’s crucial to keep in mind that each of us has our own peculiarities. For example, someone else may find your propensity to mindlessly chew your hair ends alarming. But to the appropriate person, all of your quirks and tendencies won’t be seen as negative traits at all, but rather as what makes you unique and endearing.
The way they stir their tea, fold their shirts, or sing to themselves in the shower might not be beige flags at all if you give them some time to get to know you; rather, those behaviours might be what make you fall in love.
