The Hanky Code originated in the 1960s in a series of gay leather bars around Los Angeles. The hankies functioned as a color-coded system for communicating illegal or stigmatized sexual desires within the construct of top/dominate and bottom/submissive. As the use of the Hanky Code has trickled into the present, the intention in illustrating, printing and distributing this new version of the Hanky Code was to remove its historical connotations of shame and fear. The drawings assert sex and body-positive visibility, with profits from the hankies helping to fund the top surgery of one of the artists working on the project.

The Code
left (top/ dominant) || color || right (bottom/ submissive)

piercer | purple | piercee
fucker | navy blue | fuckee
wants head | light blue | expert cocksucker
fist fucker | red | fist fuckee
dildo fucker | pink | dildo fuckee
2 looking for 1 | gold | 1 looking for 2
anything, anywhere, anytime | orange | not now, thanks
spanker | fuchsia | spankee
hustler | kelly green | john
69er | robins egg blue | 69ee
CBT (cock & ball torture) torturer | teal blue | CBT (cock & ball torture) torturee
cums in scumbags | cream | sucks it out
likes drag | lavender | drag queen/king
rimmer | beige | rimmee
cowboy | rust | his horse
heavy s&m top | black | heavy s&m bottom
suck my pits | magenta | armpit freak
bondage top | grey | bondage bottom
beat my meat | white | i'll do us both
pisser | yellow | pissee
mommy | mint green | wants a mommy
daddy | hunter green | wants a daddy
food fetish top | lime green | food fetish bottom
likes foot worship | coral | likes to worship feet