^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Extinction Rebellion

XR, International Environmental Movement

image from Esteban Rivera, 19 April 2019

Introduction: Extinction Rebellion (XR)
About the Flags and Extinction Symbol
XR Logo Flags - without Text
XR Logo Flags - with Text
XR Critical Swarm Bee flags
XR Monarch Butterfly Flag
XR Quartered Flags

XR Hourglass Flags

See also:

Introduction: Extinction Rebellion

Extinction Rebellion is a movement that was established in the United Kingdom in May of 2018 when about one hundred academics signed a call to action. It was launched at the end of October by Roger Hallam, Gail Bradbrook, Simon Bramwell, and other activists. In November of 2018 various planned acts of civil disobedience were carried out in London. At that time a large number of the activists in the movement pledged to be arrested and go to prison.
Sources and further information:

1. Extinction Rebellion
2. Extinction Symbol
3. Wikipedia: Extinction_Rebellion Esteban Rivera, 19 April 2019

Extinction Rebellion (XR) "is a leaderless, decentralised, international and apolitical network using non-violent direct action and civil disobedience to persuade governments to act justly on the Climate and Ecological Emergency."
On 31st October 2018, British activists assembled on Parliament Square in London to announce a Declaration of Rebellion against the UK Government. The next few weeks were a whirlwind. Six thousand rebels converged on London to peacefully block five major bridges across the Thames. Trees were planted in the middle of Parliament Square, and hole was dug there to bury a coffin representing our future. Rebels super-glued themselves to the gates of Buckingham Palace as they read a letter to the Queen - and the Extinction Rebellion was born.
The call to rebel swiftly became global, with branches popping up the following week in Europe, the US, and soon after the world over. Leaderless and truly global, each new branch makes the movement stronger, bringing in new perspectives, wisdom, expertise, energy and inspiration. (source)
Ivan Sache, 23 March 2020

About the Flag and Extinction Symbol

Extinction symbol - image by Pete Loeser, 28 March 2020

The basic XR flag is a square cloth with the extinction symbol and (here) in black outline in the middle over (any of the following) plain colors: white, blue, green, yellow, orange and pink colors as background.
"The Extinction Symbol was created in January 2011 by ESP, an artist from London whose identity is kept secret. It represents the Holocene or Sixth Mass Extinction. The symbol is described on the Extinction Symbol website as (follows): "The circle signifies the planet, while the hourglass inside serves as a warning that time is rapidly running out for many species". A variant symbol (here) and ( here) is also used, but it is less common (in fact: I haven't seen a flag with the stencil symbol so far).
An interesting disclaimer is located on their website: "Please note: In response to people attempting to use the symbol on their clothing/giftware products, and to avoid any future requests that it be allowed to be used in this manner, the following clarification is now made: Since its inception the extinction symbol has always been a strictly anti-consumerist project. No extinction symbol merchandise exists, and it never will. The free use of the extinction symbol by individuals in their personal artwork or other forms of expression is strongly welcomed and encouraged, but any form of commercial use of the symbol is completely against its ethos and should therefore be refrained from. To reiterate, please do not use the symbol on any items that will be sold, or for any other fundraising purposes. There are no exceptions to this policy. Thank you for your understanding in this matter."
The following pictures display the several versions of their flag:

1. Blue, pink, green and white flags (source)
2. Blue, green, white and yellow flags (source)
3. Blue, green, pink, yellow, white and orange flags (source)
4. Blue, orange, yellow, pink and white flags (source) Esteban Rivera, 19 April 2019

More images of the various colors of flags and information can be found at Historical Flags of Our Ancestors - Modern American Protest and Message Flags (Part III) - Extinction Rebellion (XR) Flags 2018
Pete Loeser, 20 April 2019

"The circle signifies the planet, while the hourglass inside serves as a warning that time is rapidly running out for many species. The world is currently undergoing a mass extinction event, and this symbol is intended to help raise awareness of the urgent need for change in order to address this crisis. Estimates are that somewhere between 30,000 and 140,000 species are becoming extinct every year in what scientists have named the Holocene, or Sixth Mass Extinction. This ongoing process of destruction is being caused by the impact of human activity. Such a catastrophic loss of biodiversity is highly likely to cause widespread ecosystem collapse and consequently render the planet uninhabitable for humans." (source)
Ivan Sache, 23 March 2020

XR Logo Flags Without Text

Green, Pink, White, and Yellow Logo Flags

images by Ivan Sache, 23 March 2020

Green Flag Sources:

Pink Flag Sources:

White Flag Sources:

Yellow Flag Sources:

Ivan Sache, 23 March 2020

Blue, Orange, Red, and Purple/Violet Logo Flags

images by Ivan Sache, 23 March 2020

Blue Flag Sources:

Orange Flag Source:

https://www.lesoir.be/253396/article/2019-10-13/plus-de-400-manifestants-dextinction-rebellion-interpelles-bruxelles-enquete-sur

Red Flag Source:

https://www.lematin.ch/monde/coup-envoi-actions-dextinction-rebellion/story/21269234

Purple/Violet Flag Sources:

https://toulon.maville.com/actu/actudet_-extinction-rebellion-troisieme-jour-de-blocage-au-centre-de-paris_54135-3865947_actu.Htm

Ivan Sache, 23 March 2020

XR Logo Flags With Text

images by Ivan Sache, 23 March 2020

These flags used by the militants of the Extinction Rebellion feature the movement's complete logo with its name added beneath the Extinction Symbol. These are less commonly seen and the combination usually appears more often on signs, posters and banners.

Sources:

Ivan Sache, 23 March 2020

XR Critical Swarm Bee flags

images by Pete Loeser and Tomislav Todorovic, 25 March 2020

These are two examples of the XR Critical Swarm Bee flags that were used as part of the Extinction Rebellion's "die-in" held in front of the Tate Modern Museum in London in April of 2019.
Pete Loeser, 25 March 2020

XR Monarch Butterfly Flag

image by Pete Loeser and Tomislav Todorovic, 25 March 2020

This black on white flag was carried by Extinction Rebellion activist at the Climate Change Protests in London this week. It features a monarch butterfly, now endangered, surrounded by four XR symbols. The flag was carried upside down, apparently an indication of the species pending extinction.
Pete Loeser, 25 March 2020

XR Quartered Flags

reverse side photo from Pete Loeser

A photo (photo source) of this quartered flag with the caption "Demonstrators wave the flags as they block a road during the Extinction Rebellion protest in central Paris, France" was dated 11 October 2019. The use of the "extinction" symbol in the first quarter obviously does connect it to the Extinction Rebellion movement and climate protest held then, but does anybody know what the drawings are in the other three quarters? I was unable to find a clearer picture of the flag.
Pete Loeser, 27 March 2020

It looks like on the blue field [hoist/lower quadrant] - the black emblem is beyond reasonable doubt a drawing of a hourglass, which is also represented in a schematic manner with the white XR emblem in the black quadrant [fly/upper quadrant]. The black emblem on the whitish/pink field of the flag is a tree [hoist/upper quadrant]. The charges in the yellow field might be monarch butterflies [fly/lower quadrant].
Ivan Sache, 27 March 2020

obverse image by Tomislav Todorovic, 29 April 2020

Using these sources (source #1) (source #2) (source #3) the charges on this quartered Extinction Rebellion flag can be identified. My illustration is based on SVG images provided free for non-commercial use "for the purpose of planet saving", as stated within the copyright information presented at the bottom of each page of the Extinction Rebellion Clobal website, e.g. the About Us page. The first three fields are derived from SVG images found at the XR Global website.
- The top hoist quarter shows a black tree on white.
- The bottom hoist quarter shows a black hourglass on blue.
- The bottom fly quarter shows a five bee swarm on yellow.
The last image is derived from the SVG image of XR symbol from Wikimedia Commons.
- The top fly quarter shows the XR symbol.
Tomislav Todorovic, 29 April 2020

image from Ivan Sache, 27 March 2020

Here is XR another quartered flag.(source) The green [hoist/upper] quadrant contains the XR emblem; the [hoist/lower] pink quadrant an hourglass; in the [fly/upper] yellow quadrant the black charges in the yellow field look to be monarch butterflies; the charge in the lower blue quadrant of the fly is unclear.
Ivan Sache, 27 March 2020

Looking at both quartered flag examples, I'm beginning to think the five small images on the yellow fields might be "critical swarm" bees (in this case facing down which leads me to think that the flag is mounted upside down). I do see now what you identified as a drawn hourglass on the pink quarter (blue in the first flag) is correct. My best guess is that the other two quartered images in the first flag show an unidentified tree and the XR logo (black quadrant in the first and green in the second). The light blue in the second flag unrecognizable, but also facing extinction.
Pete Loeser, 27 March 2020

image from Tomislav Todorovi, 30 March 2020

Another similar flag, incompletely visible, can be also viewed (here) on Wiki-commons. It displays a black hourglass on blue in the top hoist, five black bees on the yellow field and the edge of a white field in the top fly. While it shall be left for further research, this is another proof that the insects upon yellow canton are bees.
Tomislav Todorovi, 30 March 2020

I think this is definitely a third variant of the XR quartered flag, but based on the bees flying upward at least hung right-side up. If I am correct, this means the two hidden fields would probably show a tree and the XR logo.
Pete Loeser, 4 May 2020

XR Hourglass Flags

images by Ivan Sache and Tomislav Todorovic, 25 March 2020

Another XP flag shows the black hourglass on a yellow square field. (source)
Ivan Sache, 27 March 2020

Here are photos of a pink flag with black hourglass on it.

Attached herewith is the image of described flag, derived from Ivan's image.
Tomislav Todorovic, 27 March 2020

Yellow Flag Sources:

Tomislav Todorovic, 30 March 2020

Green Flag Sources:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:C%C3%A9r%C3%A9monie_d%27Ouverture_de_la_R%C3%A9bellion_Internationale_d%27Octobre_(48854849781).jpg

Tomislav Todorovic, 30 March 2020