- Culture & Travel
What Exactly Are Beige Flags In a Relationship, and Should You Be Concerned?
A deep-dive into the buzzworthy dating term.
Janhvi Kapoor [Image Courtesy: Pinterest]
In the dazzling kaleidoscope of modern romance, we have all become accustomed to the glaring red flags that send our intuitions into overdrive…or the charming green flags that make us believe that a relationship has the potential to be taken to the next level. But what if we told you that buried within the threads of your love story is another shade spectrum that goes beyond these Christmas colours?
Step into the realm of beige flags—the gentle whispers of caution that are amusing and slightly odd without crossing into the full-fledged creepy territory that the Internet has been warning you about. Picture this: you are on a date that’s all sunsets and sparks, yet beneath the surface, there’s a subtle undercurrent that something’s off…something that makes you pause for a minute and then move on. This is the fascinating world of beige flags—the barely-there hesitations that are neither a dealbreaker nor a dealmaker.
According to Urban Dictionary, the Internet’s favourite slang decoder, a beige flag is “Something that’s neither good nor bad but makes you pause for a minute when you notice it and then you just continue on”.
If you are confused, don’t worry…as is everyone else. There is no agreement as to what exactly constitutes a beige flag, a term coined by TikToker Caitlin MacPhail. For some people, the traits fall under the category of ‘quirks’, while others may view them as ‘subtly annoying’. Some of the most recurring yet diverse examples of beige flags are: dunking Oreos into water instead of milk, using caps lock excessively, ironing socks, always having to sleep on one particular side of the bed, and remembering everyone’s birthday, among others.
According to Urban Dictionary, the Internet’s favourite slang decoder, a beige flag is “Something that’s neither good nor bad but makes you pause for a minute when you notice it and then you just continue on”. Another definition on the website explains beige flags as “neither a red flag nor a green flag, but also both simultaneously. Red + green = brown, but since these aren’t exactly red nor green, add a little blankness (white), and you get beige!”.
Unlike their dramatic counterparts, beige flags do not make you throw your hands in the air and scream danger at first glance. They make you work a little hard—you’d need to be on your A-game (in terms of decoding skills) to establish which way it will go. For instance, if you think you have found someone who’s truly amazing, but if they like pineapple on their pizza…#BeigeFlagAlert. However, this doesn’t mean you should call it quits. Beige flags are just reminders to maintain a healthy dose of skepticism. Consider them the training wheels of your heart—keeping you steady as you navigate a relationship. They are the breath of fresh air that allows you to assess your emotions and decipher if what you’re experiencing is genuine or a dazzling facade.
In this era of online dating, where we can effortlessly swipe through countless potential partners on apps and filter our lives on social media, we’re more inclined to notice beige flags in our relationships. We are all in pursuit of an unattainable ideal of perfection that doesn’t exist—and it’s making us dismiss people for something that is harmless at the end of the day. Ultimately, it’s important to remember that all of us have our quirks, and while they may be annoying to some, they may also be what makes you charming and loveable to the right person.
