The handkerchief code (also known as the hanky code, the bandana code and flagging) is the wearing of various colored bandanas around the neck was common in the mid- and late-nineteenth century among cowboys, steam railroad engineers and miners in the Western United States.
Here, we take a look at the tools gay men have historically used to determine who is into what. But questions like “into” and “looking for” have been around a lot longer than the dating apps we use today to ask them. Some may think that the gay community’s obsession with finding out the sexual proclivities of a potential partner is a trend of today.
