History Main / VirginityFlag

* In Creator/MercedesLackey's ''Literature/TalesOfTheFiveHundredKingdoms'', unicorns are attracted to virgins of the opposite sex. This can cause...[[HilarityEnsues complications]] when someone does not want their virginity (or gender) disclosed. (It doesn't help that unicorns -- [[BrainlessBeauty rather dim under most circumstances]] -- turn into squealing wrecks in the presence of a virgin, meaning that there's really no way to keep it quiet).

* In ''Literature/TheHandmaidsTale'', "Daughters" -- the virgin daughters of Gilead's wealthy men, who will one day be given in {{Arranged Marriage}}s to other wealthy men -- wear [[VirginInAWhiteDress white dresses]], to show that they are virgins.

* In the world of ''Literature/{{Touch|2017}},'' sex causes people to get a dark patch around one eye called the Mark of Purity. Since the protagonist is a twelve-year-old boy dealing with the aftermath of being raped, this obviously presents a problem if he doesn't want to advertise his issues to the world. When we first meet him he's covering it with his mother's makeup, and he talks to his therapist about options like skin-tone patches or cosmetic surgery. The therapist notes that even under normal circumstances, the Mark's appearance can be pretty awkward.

* ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'': Played with. When a [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampire]] fatally drains an opposite-sex human and that human is a virgin, s/he also becomes a vampire. If not, s/he becomes a [[OurGhoulsAreCreepier ghoul]]. While this makes it easy to tell which opposite-sex victims were virgins or not after the fact, most vampires can't tell which humans are virgins or not before they drink. This leads to some vampires who don't want to sire children (like the {{starter villain}}) [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil personally ensuring that their meal is a non-virgin]] before drinking. Millennium-made vampires are different in that drained victims can only become ghouls whether the victim was virgin or not (something Hellsing learned from victims who were far too young to have sex lives).
* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Larcade's BrownNote ability has no effect on virgins...unless he specifically focuses it on one person.

* The creator of ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}} can’t exactly announce when the titular character has sex thanks to newspaper censors, but he [[WordOfGod explained to curious fans]] that he’d show it in-universe by drawing Dilbert's tie uncharacteristically limp.

* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8869552/1/Snowmaiden This]] fan fic implies that everyone in Middle Earth has a VirginityFlag, but only elves can see it. (Overlaps with VirginVision, but the elf claims it is a visible sign in the eyes).

* In ''Film/The40YearOldVirgin'', this is first subverted and then played straight. At first, nobody realizes that the main character is a virgin. On the other hand, the daughter of his primary love interest can tell he's a virgin, somehow having gained the ability to spot anyone's virginity flag simply by virtue of spending her high school days with sexed-up teenage boys.
* ''Film/KissOfTheDamned'': Xenia can tell instantly that Anna's a virgin, and therefore her blood is intensely tempting for some unexplained reason. It seems virgins just ''smell'' differently.

* In Creator/MadeleineLEngle's ''Literature/ManyWaters'', only "innocents" can ride unicorns. (Otherwise, they disappear.)
* In ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', a scarlet sash is the emblem of the Junior Anti-Sex League, which advocates celibacy.
** [[spoiler:Invoked by one of the protagonists, who while wearing it has slept with plenty of men, and simply wears it to ''act'' like the good patriotic Party member]]

* In ''Literature/TheBible'', after King David's daughter Tamar is raped by her half-brother Amnon, the poor girl tears her garment that was reserved for the King's virgin daughters. Her full brother Absolom immediately realizes what happened when he sees her, [[KnightTemplarBigBrother and it does NOT end well for Amnon]].
* The thranx of the ''Literature/HumanxCommonwealth'' look a lot like giant praying mantids. Unlike [[OutWithABang praying mantids]], male thranx only lose their vestigial wings the first time they have sex.
* ''Literature/SongAtDawn'' It is customary for a bride to wear her hair up after consummating her marriage (i.e. losing her virginity.) [[spoiler: Estela doesn't do it after her marriage because John isn't interested in doing it with her. Instead, she does it after a traumatic experience with a stable hand that she doesn't want to admit to herself was a mistake.]]
* In ''Literature/TheBlackCompany'' short story "Tides Elba", the city's religion the company is stationed in includes that women permanently shave off all the hair below their neckline after losing their virginity. The Black Company being a mercenary outfit full of men with too much time on their hands, this gets discussed at length.
* In ''Literature/TheRedTent'', it's mentioned that among the Canaanite wives that Jacob's sons took, the morning after the wedding night, the mother of the bride would run into the tent and steal the bloodstained blanket [[note]] We now know that neither blood from a broken hymen nor a "tight" sensation are reliable proof of virginity, but this story is set in the Bronze Age. [[/note]], to save just in case Jacob wanted "proof" that the bride was a virgin (and therefore that he had paid a fair price for her). The women of Padan-Aram think this is {{Squick}}, and their [[SexAsRiteOfPassage Ritual of Opening]] is designed to make it so that there won't be a bloodstain so no one will know whether they're virgins or not and judge their worth by that.
* In the world of ''Literature/{{Touch|2017}},'' sex causes people to get a dark patch around one eye called the Mark of Purity. Since the protagonist is a twelve-year-old boy dealing with the aftermath of being raped, this obviously presents a problem if he doesn't want to advertise his issues to the world. When we first meet him he's covering it with his mother's makeup, and he talks to his therapist about options like skin-tone patches or cosmetic surgery. The therapist notes that even under normal circumstances the Mark's appearance can be pretty awkward.
* In ''Literature/TheHandmaidsTale'', "Daughters", that is, the virgin daughters of Gilead's wealthy men, who will one day be given in {{Arranged Marriage}}s to other wealthy men, wear [[VirginInAWhiteDress white dresses]], to show that they are virgins.
* As a variant, in ''Literature/AlwaysComingHome'', taking on a sexual partner is the stage where a person starts wearing dyed clothing.
* In ''Literature/HeavenOfficialsBlessingTianGuanCiFu'', Jun Wu has a magic sword that repels the blood of virgins. He uses it to help Xie Lian prove that he cannot possibly be the father of Lan Chang's child.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': In "Teacher's Pet", the mantis demon prefers to mate with virginal human males (and bite their heads off, pursuant to mantid custom). Her targets include a jock who, after rescue, threatens to sue if word gets out.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}''. In a flashback scene, evil vampire Angelus is able to tell that three sisters are virgins just by looking at them. As one of the sisters is a seer, she turns to look at him in horror. It's Drusilla, the woman he will turn into a vampire after driving her insane by slaughtering her family.

* [[http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/bunny The fan-made video]] for {{Music/TISM}}’s “Everyone Else Has Had More Sex Than Me” with everyone’s number of either sexual partners or number of sexual escapades written on their shirts. And yep, there’s [[NobodyLovestheBassist one poor fellow]] with a “0” on there. And one with “[[NoodleIncident 3.5]]”.

* A variation in ''{{TabletopGame/Ravenloft}}'', where women in one multicultural area use hairscarves to denote whether they're single or married. Problem is, one culture uses scarves to indicate singlehood and another indicates marriage, leading to a lot of brawls.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* [[http://www.pbfcomics.com/227/ The strip called "Preserves"]] of ''ComicStrip/ThePerryBibleFellowship''.

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* While not outright stated (it ''is'' a kids' show), ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' had a scene where Sokka comes out of his tent in the morning wearing a flower lei Suki had been wearing the previous night (and he had been seen in a ReadyForLovemaking pose). So he got lei'd, she got deflowered, geddit?
[[/folder]]

Compare DidYouJustHaveSex, NerdsAreVirgins (nerdiness as a Virginity Flag), SexDressed, VirginityMakesYouStupid, VirginPower, VirginInAWhiteDress (clothing as an actual or alleged Virginity Flag), VirginVision (the unjustified form of this). Sometimes, this can be faked with a ConsummationCounterfeit, as when the MacGuffin is a bloodstain on the sheets. [[noreallife]]

* Used literally in the ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'' books - the first man to have sex with Phedre says he intends to use the white silk cloth she bled on to make a new coat of arms.
* In the world of ''[[Literature/{{Touch 2017}} Touch]],'' sex causes people to get a dark patch around one eye called the Mark of Purity. Since the protagonist is a twelve-year-old boy dealing with the aftermath of being raped, this obviously presents a problem if he doesn't want to advertise his issues to the world. When we first meet him he's covering it with his mother's makeup, and he talks to his therapist about options like skin-tone patches or cosmetic surgery. The therapist notes that even under normal circumstances the Mark's appearance can be pretty awkward.

* ''Series/AdamRuinsEverything'' [[AvertedTrope averts]] this, with Emily explaining in one episode that female physical virginity is effectively non-existent, as the hymen can be torn any number of ways, and it is not uncommon for it to heal.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': in "Teacher's Pet", the mantis demon prefers to mate with virginal human males (and bite their heads off, pursuant to mantid custom). Her targets include a jock who, after rescue, threatens to sue if word gets out.

* Reika from ''Manga/FutariEcchi'' can just tell if a person is a virgin or has already had sexual intercourse by merely looking at them. This allowed her to know instantly that ChristmasCake Kyoko is still a virgin and Shoko was experienced, though still shocked [[OlderThanTheyLook because she was more concerned about such a young-looking girl to be at a bar]].

* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8869552/1/Snowmaiden This]] fan fic implies that everyone in Middle Earth has a VirginityFlag, but only elves can see it. (Overlaps with ''VirginVision'', but the elf claims it is a visible sign in the eyes).

* In ''Theatre/MeAndMyDick'', the virginal Sally's [[AnthropomorphizedAnatomy Miss Cooter]] wears a flower prominently.

* The thranx of the ''Literature/HumanxCommonwealth'' look a lot like giant praying mantids. Unlike [[DeathBySex praying mantids]], male thranx only lose their vestigial wings the first time they have sex.

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Larcade's BrownNote ability has no effect on virgins.