What does a purple hanky mean in the left pocket?

In the hanky code, purple worn in the left pocket means: Piercer.

What does a purple hanky mean in the right pocket?

In the hanky code, purple worn in the right pocket means: Pierced.

Where does the purple code come from?

Worn in San Francisco leather bars from 1972, purple in the left pocket told the room you were piercer; in the right, pierced. 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 › Piercing

HC-012 · PURPLE · Historical · documented 1972–1978 · The Sixty-Six · 1972 chart

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

What does a Purple hanky mean?

Piercing. Left pocket: Piercer. Right pocket: Pierced.

Piercing — PURPLE hanky code print, left pocket: PIERCER — **Left pocket · gives**Piercer

Piercing — PURPLE hanky code print, right pocket: PIERCED — **Right pocket · receives**Pierced

ReferenceHC-012

ColourPURPLE · #6F2C91

Era1972-1978

OriginHistorical · documented 1972–1978

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The swatchThe print at phone size with a name in the margin. Make it yours or make it for the person who should read you, and send it. No account, no email.

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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-012 in the margin, certificate, provenance card, hanging spec. The full £30 is credited against the Edition within twelve months.

£30

Left · Piercer Right · Pierced

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.

£150

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What does a Purple hanky mean?

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