Hanky Code
also known as Handkerchief code
A conventional system for signalling interests and roles by coloured handkerchiefs.
Definition
The hanky code is a conventional system, largely originating in mid-twentieth-century gay Leather communities, in which colour and placement of a worn handkerchief signal specific interests, roles or availability.
Discussion
The code has expanded, contracted and been reinterpreted across time and place; no single canonical list is universally recognised, though the framework is broadly understood.