Editing Zeta Flag (section)

== Past Flags ==
=== Origins ===
[[File:Zoophilia by unknown.png|thumb|The first Zoo flag in 2016]]
This flag was made at some point before June 24, 2016, by a feline therian and a [[Furry Fandom & the Zoo Community|furry]] artist. Permission to share their username hasn't yet been obtained, but according to one of their posts, the colors of the flag represent zoophilia's presence in all genders:
* Blue for binary male and female genders
* White for genders outside of the binary spectrum
* Purple for non-binary genders on the male/female spectrum

It was uploaded to DeviantArt by a user ZooFlags, an aego-zoosexual and zooromantic trans demigirl therian. The date of upload is June 24, 2016.<ref name="paraflags">{{Cite web|author=Lector|date=2023-12-24|title=Popular zoophile flags|url=https://paraflags-wiki.org/index.php?title=Popular_zoophile_flags&oldid=4606|website=Paraphilia+Flags Wiki|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250825143914if_/https://paraflags-wiki.org/index.php?title=Popular_zoophile_flags|archive-date=2025-08-25|access-date=2025-08-17|df=mdy-all}}</ref> For a long time, ZooFlags was considered the original creator of this flag.<ref name="deviantart">{{Cite web|author=ZooFlags|date=2016-06-23|title=Zoosexual/Zooromantic/Zoophile Flag 2|url=https://www.deviantart.com/zooflags/art/Zoosexual-Zooromantic-Zoophile-Flag-2-617290018|website=DeviantArt|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220402205547if_/https://www.deviantart.com/zooflags/art/Zoosexual-Zooromantic-Zoophile-Flag-2-617290018|archive-date=2022-04-02|access-date=2025-08-17|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

=== Influence ===
This flag became the most popular flag out of all those uploaded by ZooFlags and is regularly used by zoophiles in artwork and on social media profiles. The Twitter user ZooStruggles has erroneously claimed that this flag represents pro-contact zoophiles, but no such statement by the original artist has ever been produced in support of this.

The first version of the ZETA flag, without the star, was created during a project run on Twitter by KZ, a [[ZETA-Verein|ZETA]] activist, during the spring of 2020. In mid-April of that year, he posted several polls about the potential flag design<ref>{{Cite tweet|user=Koonzoo1|number=1251050182311129091|date=2020-04-17|title=What color would you put in the zoo pride flag, why?|url-access=registration|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.ph/wlvLL|archive-date=2023-12-20|access-date=2025-08-17|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{Cite tweet|user=Koonzoo1|number=1251052682984464384|date=2020-04-17|title=What design should the zoo flag be in?|url-access=registration|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.ph/69oeo|archive-date=2023-12-20|access-date=2025-08-17|df=mdy-all}}</ref> for his followers to vote on. On May 3, he announced the winning design.<ref>{{Cite tweet|user=Koonzoo1|number=1257045829547970560|date=2020-05-03|title=It seems like this design (with or without the symbols) is what has been most widely accepted as our zoo pride flag. Would you all like this as our pride flag?|url-access=registration|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.ph/N6RYv|archive-date=2023-12-20|access-date=2025-08-17|df=mdy-all}}</ref>. According to his explanation,<ref>{{Cite tweet|user=Koonzoo1|number=1485368294395850752|date=2022-01-23|title=The brown represents land animals. The green represents avians, reptiles & amphibians. The blue represents marine life. We zoos highly respect & love our non-human neighbors & partners, and this flag is a symbol for both us & them and the bond we share.|url-access=registration|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.ph/RVf0J|archive-date=2023-12-20|access-date=2025-08-17|df=mdy-all}}</ref> the brown color represents land animals, the green represents avians, reptiles & amphibians, and the blue represents marine life. The exact hues of the flag were chosen by another Twitter blogger, SteelDogTuscy. The four-pointed star was an initiative of yet another Twitter user, KometSF, who proposed it in reference to four-legged animals.<ref>{{Cite tweet|user=KometSF|number=1250693144523476994|date=2020-04-16|title=I feel like a zoo flag a zoo flag should refer to the 4 legs of our beloved one. This could be by using 4-spiked stars, 4 colours or by using 4 squares (with 2 different colors), symbolizing unity between a 4 legger and a 2 legger.|url-access=registration|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.ph/ObOPW|archive-date=2023-12-20|access-date=2025-08-17|df=mdy-all}}</ref> According to the designer, the elements shown in white indicate purity.<ref>{{Cite tweet|user=Koonzoo1|number=1676452375362514944|date=2023-07-04|title=The four points were said to represent the 4 legged creatures we all love. Yeah I know they don't all have 4 legs. The white represented their purity.|url-access=registration|url-status=live|archive-url=https://archive.ph/ngDhJ|archive-date=2023-12-20|access-date=2025-08-17|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Due to the [[ZETA-Verein|ZETA movement]]'s active involvement in zoophile community building, these flags are often regarded as the official zoo flags<ref>{{Cite web|author=ZoophileFlags|date=2022-04-24|title=ZoophileFlags User Profile|url=https://www.deviantart.com/zoophileflags|website=DeviantArt|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424081833if_/https://www.deviantart.com/zoophileflags|archive-date=2022-04-24|access-date=2025-08-17|df=mdy-all}}</ref>, especially on Twitter.