#good omens lgbtq

[cobragardens]

Aziraphale's Ring Is a Queer Symbol

In a previous post I hold forth about the symbolism of the lion rampant on the escutcheon of Aziraphale's signet ring. The upshot is that the golden lion is used by Heaven as a symbol of its threat and its merciless, murderous corporate culture, and I argue that in S3 Aziraphale must subvert this stamp of Heavenly ownership and symbolically redefine the golden lion by summoning the courage to be soft.

Now I've learned some new stuff about how signet rings are worn. Come, sistren, and get nerdy with me.

Aziraphale's ring is one of several we see angels wearing in Good Omens. Here in an indispensably useful post, @indigovigilance lists the known rings of Show Omens angels and those rings' qualities and placement. Note how of the angels who have rings, everyone except Saraqael and Aziraphale wear their rings on their LEFT pinky fingers. There's a reason for this.

Since the medieval period in Britain and Germany, and from there in the U.S., signet rings have been bestowed by professional associations as a sign of membership, particularly at the upper end of society: trade guilds, colleges, hospitals, the Church(es), noble families, and societies like the Freemasons all issue(d) signet rings to some of their members. The traditional placement for signet rings of show professional affiliation is the left pinky finger.

In fact, as it was not socially acceptable in or past the Victorian era for men to wear rings on more than one finger, men who wore signet rings and wedding rings both would have their wedding rings sized to fit the pinky finger below the signet. If a ring had to be moved to preserve masculinity, it wasn't the pinky ring that was going anywhere. Family signets can be worn on any of a number of fingers, but since the Victorian period the men of the British Royal Family (who are from Germany) have been especial sticklers about wearing their signets on their left pinky fingers as well.

So. If you're British and you have a signet ring that's meant to indicate professional affiliation, you wear it on your left pinky.

But Aziraphale wears his signet ring on his RIGHT hand.

Before I offer my opinion on what that means, here's some more fun background on the history and significance of pinky rings in Anglo-American culture:

The Victorian period was when pinky rings started to become associated with queerness.

As fellow members of the Hundred Guineas Club, Oscar Wilde and Aziraphale would likely have been acquaintances.

According to Wikipedia (ibid.):

"During the Victorian era, both single men and women uninterested in pursuing marriage could wear a ring on the little finger of their left hand."

This quickly expanded to a pinky ring on either hand. Here's Wikipedia's picture of farmer and philanthropist Caroline Rose Foster in 1917, the Edwardian era, wearing a pinky ring on her right hand:

Do you smell a euphemism in "uninterested in pursuing marriage"? I do!

By midcentury--so only 30 years after Ms Foster up there--American and British queers, both men and women, were using signet pinky rings specifically to signal queerness to each other.

"For gay men in the 1950’s and 60’s, a way of signaling to others was through the wearing of a signet ring on the pinkie finger."

"During the 1950’s and 60’s signet rings were worn to signify membership of the gay community; both lesbians and homosexual men wore such rings."

The pinky rings @indigovigilance points out Maggie wears may mean she's an angel; they also match her midcentury lesbian style. Devious of the costumers to give her pinky rings on both hands rather than commit to one or the other.

Screenshot by @indigovigilance

To review, there are three reasons a person in Anglo-American culture might wear a pinky ring:

They just feel like it--This can be any kind of ring and can be worn on either hand or both

Professional affiliation--This is a signet ring worn on the left pinky finger

To signal queerness--This is a signet ring and can be worn on either pinky finger

Aziraphale has worn a signet ring on his RIGHT pinky finger at least since he repaired the Eastern "Gate" in the Wall of Eden, so I'm not suggesting that he adopted the 20th-century pinky signet trend to signal his queerness (although as a clockably 'gay' 'man,' Soho fixture, and member of the Hundred Guineas Club, he may well have started it). What I am suggesting is that Aziraphale has been given a ring by Heaven that Heaven intends him to use to show his professional affiliation, but as with the flaming sword he gives away, Aziraphale doesn't use the ring for its intended purpose. By wearing the ring on his right hand, Aziraphale removes the option of interpreting it as a symbol of his professional affiliation with Heaven and renders it strictly a personal ornament. He subverts a symbol of Heavenly menace into an object of beauty and queerness.

I mean queerness in both senses. If a human takes any symbolic notice of his ring, they'll note the signet is on his right hand and conclude Aziraphale is gay. If another angel takes any notice of it, they'll conclude Aziraphale is a bit odd--that he doesn't pay attention to the finer points of how to fit in with the archangels, doesn't do things like other angels do.

In conclusion, pinky signet rings as a queer signal are just the fucking coolest and I vote we bring them back immediately.

[cobragardens]

The first time I watched S2 and got to this scene I was all "Ooooh, that's a pretty bold allusion to a romantic relationship, how daring!"

this scene permanently altered my brain chemistry fr

[nicostiel]

Aziraphale's favorite color is yellow

[samd1o1]

My experience with queer media lately:

[mollyjimbly]

BLOW UP THEIR PHONES!!!

use this call script accordingly 👇

[cobragardens]

"They were cousins"

Saw that review and became FULLY POSSESSED until I finished this

[ shop ]

[fortunatelyperfectcreator]

[cobragardens]

For me personally, this was my lifetime's Kirk/Uhura kiss.

When this happened I literally said, out loud, "Holy shit, this is happening onscreen, this is canon," because I was born during Reagan's first term and was in high school when Matthew Shepard was murdered and my hometown's only gay bar got shot up last year, and seeing two famous, marketable male movie stars sharing an on-screen kiss with each other on the streaming platform of the world's most powerful business? This was the moment I thought,

Something in my culture has changed.

[frankencanon]

Is it just me or does this line hit different when you remember that David Tennant actually has a non-binary kid who uses they/them pronouns, and has worn this non-binary rainbow pin to a bunch of interviews in support of them—?

---

[Update] David Tennant continues his trend of being a trans ally respectful & supportive of non-binary people & gender neutral pronouns in the Doctor Who Special: The Star Beast (2023)

[cobragardens]

"Oh good Lord" really stood out to me because the camera doesn't cut to Crowley at that point. Aziraphale sees him, but we the audience don't. And then after another line of dialogue, when the camera finally does show us Crowley, we don't get a full body shot, and his dark clothes blend in with the dark background so well we can't even see him well. It took me three viewings to understand what Aziraphale is even saying "Oh good Lord" about.

I really dislike these framing and editing choices. So much so I'm doing a whole bigass post on Crowley's costume in this scene and what we miss because we can't see it, because what we miss is ROMANCE and THAT CANNOT STAND. 😤

[dramamccringe]

Me when something LGBTQ+ happens in the LGBTQ+ series with the LGBTQ+ characters that I watch because they are LGBTQ+ and have LGBTQ+ characters: 🤯

[nicostiel]

#The holy trinity of queer agony

[juvenilefrogg]

"Not everything is gay" babe youre saying this on the wrong platform. Everything is kinda gay on Tumblr.

[paverage-blog]

swoon... I love this so much!

patron saint of books, bowties, and overall gay bastardry

[scottishmushroom]

Happy Pride, everyone! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍🌈

*combusts into a pile of star stuff*

[fortunatelyperfectcreator]