TikTok’s Beige Flag Trend Is Meaningless

Earlier today I experienced a euphoric, fleeting moment when I thought I actually understood the beige flag trend.

How naive I was. How unbelievably stupid and naive. You know, I’ve watched the TikToks. I’ve even read articles. And do you know what conclusion I’ve come to? The beige flag trend is meaningless, and so are our lives.

For a second, I was actually on board. I thought a beige flag indicated something that a partner does that basically makes them a bit boring — like going on about how they like or dislike pineapple in pizza. According to The Cut, that’s what it meant when it was doing the rounds on Australian TikTok (known to us, I guess, as just TikTok) in 2022. Apparently, though, the term has had a rebrand and it’s now much more neutral. That is, a beige flag seems to just refer to a general characteristic. A thing that your partner does, or even, something that you do. 

For example, TikTok user @thecursedintellectual reckons “my girlfriend’s beige flag is that she doesn’t swear and gets me to do it for her.” Another user says “my partner’s beige flag is that he doesn’t put his phone on silent mode because he’s scared it means his morning alarm won’t go off.”

Notwithstanding the fact that these people sound terrible, I’m not really convinced that any of this means anything. I think we’re lost, you know? Starved for meaning. Desperate to assign a coloured flag to something that can be best described as a quirk. And “quirk” is being generous. There’s one woman who even reckons her beige flag is that she hasn’t watched Titanic. What? 

These are just attributes, you guys. They’re idiosyncrasies. Calling them beige flags won’t save us. I don’t know how we got here, but I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that as a culture, we seem to be losing our way. Why would anyone share any of this? What are we trying to achieve? I’m just sad that it’s come to this, I guess. And I fear for what’s next.