What does a signal orange hanky mean in the left pocket?

In the hanky code, signal orange worn in the left pocket means: Top / Open.

What does a signal orange hanky mean in the right pocket?

In the hanky code, signal orange worn in the right pocket means: Bottom / Open.

Where does the signal orange code come from?

Worn in San Francisco leather bars from 1972, signal orange in the left pocket told the room you were top or open; in the right, bottom or open. Recorded in the Damron charts of 1980 and Townsend’s Leatherman’s Handbook II in 1983. This colour belongs to the community that made it; the print is our specification of it.

HankyCode › The chart › Anything Goes

HC-008 · SIGNAL ORANGE · Historical · documented 1972–1978 · The Sixty-Six · 1972 chart

The OpeningEdition of 25 per side · opens Fri 18 Sep 2026 · closes Sun 1 Nov 2026

What does a Signal Orange hanky mean?

Anything Goes. Left pocket: Top / Open. Right pocket: Bottom / Open.

Anything Goes — SIGNAL ORANGE hanky code print, left pocket: ANYTHING — **Left pocket · gives**Top / Open

Anything Goes — SIGNAL ORANGE hanky code print, right pocket: EVERYTHING — **Right pocket · receives**Bottom / Open

ReferenceHC-008

ColourSIGNAL ORANGE · #FE5000

Era1972-1978

OriginHistorical · documented 1972–1978

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The Study · one sideNumbered digital edition of 250 per side: the press-ready A3 file with the HANKY FAMILY® mark and HC-008 in the margin, certificate, provenance card, hanging spec. The full £30 is credited against the Edition within twelve months.

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Left · Anything Right · Everything

The Study · the pairBoth pockets, hung the way you stand. Left gives, right receives.

£50

The Study pair

The Print · A3Giclée A3 on Hahnemühle German Etching 310gsm, made by Prodigi, our print partner, and posted to you rolled in a tube. Unsigned. A timed edition — open for the 21 days of its drop, then closed for good — numbered in the Register in order of sale, with the Register QR printed in the margin. Also in our TikTok Shop and on Etsy at the same price.

£60

Print · left Print · right

The Print · the pairBoth pockets, posted together in one tube.

£110

The Print pair

The Edition · Family onlyGiclée on Hahnemühle German Etching 310gsm, A3, 25 per side, signed, numbered, blind-stamped, entered in the Register and anchored to the Bitcoin blockchain. Open to members for 21 days from the drop date; when the window closes the edition closes at the number it reached. Pair £280.

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What does a Signal Orange hanky mean?

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