What is the Mental Health Flag?

What is the Mental Illness Flag?

A collection of artists and advocates created The Mental Illness Flag in 2020. Pioneered by The Pete Foundation, this bespoke flag represents global acceptance and support for mental health issues.  

Based on the established green colour for mental health awareness, the flag uses different shades of colour throughout the design. Each shade reflects the shifting of mood, emotion, and psychological state from darkness into light. It’s a simple, relatable, and transcultural design that serves as a global symbol of support for mental health.

The Role of the Mental Illness Flag in Promoting Awareness

Assigning May as their official “Mental Health Month”, every year the state of Kentucky displays the Mental Illness Flag in its Capital, Frankfort. By displaying the Mental Illness Flag every May, they’ve set a precedent for others. Now, all 50 US states have bought and displayed the flag in the states. 

Mental health is a growing concern. Studies suggest mental health issues will affect half the world’s population during their lifetime. And the Mental Illness Flag is available to anyone who wants to promote destigmatisation and mental health acceptance. Akin to the rainbow flag on the LGBTQ+ community, the Mental Illness Flag represents unity, awareness, and acceptance of mental health issues.  

The Pete Foundation sells large dimensional flags to anyone who wants to show their support in a physical form. Through sales of the flag, the foundation generates income that furthers its work with youth mental health. This initiative fills a gap where many businesses already claim they’re “flying the flag for mental health”. This way, they can buy a physical copy of the flag to do that in their buildings or at events. Doing so shows solidarity and promotes active discussion around better mental health. 

The Design of the Mental Illness Flag

The flag’s design represents a move from a darker mental state into something lighter. It uses a series of brushstroked colours that range from darker shades of green to lighter shades of yellow. The green ribbon is already the international symbol for mental health. And so the flag is a deliberate intention to keep this foundational colour.  

As the shades lighten, the flag represents the potential for growth and renewal. In some ways, this also takes inspiration from the greener colours of nature. The design could represent the potential for growth out of greener aspects of nature into the warmer healing energy of a yellow sun. 

The design of the Mental Illness Flag is proving to be successful, with The Pete Foundation claiming they’ve sold a flag to all 50 states and in many other countries. 

How You Can Support the Cause

The flag is a great idea for organisations that already champion mental health and run events during annual milestones like Mental Health Awareness Week. Supporters can purchase large or small flags from The Pete Foundation. They will ship them out at a small international fee. 100% of the cost goes to The Pete Foundation and the important work they do on youth mental health advocacy.  

Flying the Mental Illness Flag not only supports The Pete Foundation but allows people to show physical support for the cause. This could be worth considering if you’re a firm that runs mental health initiatives such as giving staff a mental health day off work or running Employee Assistance Programs. 

Other ways you can support mental health while flying the Mental Illness Flag include: 

• Understand the problems: It’s worth noting how mental health conditions like OCD and PTSD are also forms of Acquired Neurodivergence that affect 1 in 100 people and around 10% of the population respectively. And there are specific ways to support people with neurodivergence who also experience mental health problems.  
• Give support and listen: Supporting better mental health in the workplace includes helping management to be there for their employees when they’re struggling. Offering training and coaching can help them feel confident when supporting their teams. 
• Create safer environments: Neurodivergent conditions and mental health problems overlap. For instance, people with autism can experience low self-esteem from feeling less than or different from others. Learning how to take a strengths-based approach to supporting neurodivergence can improve mental health and create safer environments. 

Who Came Up With the Mental Illness Flag?

The Pete Foundation coordinated over 100 advocates, artists, and individuals with personal experiences of overcoming mental health problems to create the Mental Illness Flag. It’s not possible to credit one single person for the design. But that’s for good reason since the flag is intended to reflect support for global mental health. The design originates from a collection of people from many walks of life.

With so many people affected by poor mental health, the flag acts as a symbol of belonging and strength. It offers a shared sense of identity and representation for those who experience mental health problems. Flying the flag shows others that you understand their struggles and want to help them. It may have emerged from the US but it offers a global symbol of strength and unity. And it’s a key way to support the common instances of mental health problems for people with neurodivergence.