I want to make art about polyamorous characters and want to know which symbols are best to use

Hi! I've recently been inspired to draw a cute piece of part for Pride Month that has the 3 main characters of The Phantom of the Opera in it. I wanted to put a flag on the inside of the Phantom's cape. I believe it would be more appropriate to use the Polyamorous flag rather than the Polysexual flag, but I don't know whether or not to use pi or the infinity heart. Can you help clear the air some? I just want to get it absolutely perfect the first time 💕

You are correct that polyamory is more appropriate here - polysexual means something different and is about sexual orientation, not relationship styles. 

The pi symbol and the infinity heart are both used to represent polyamory, and neither is "wrong" or "inappropriate." There isn't really much baggage to either symbol.

I prefer the infinity heart, personally, but that's just a personal preference. Some people also like the infinity heart as a symbol of "eternal love" and you may see it associated with things that aren't polyamory; but there are also people with pi-symbol jewelry and tattoos that aren't polyamorous but really into math or something. 

It's good to be sensitive when you're using words and symbols associated with certain groups of people! There are definitely certain symbols with multiple meanings, co-optation, discourse pits, etc. but fortunately, both polyamory symbols are pretty much free of any such issues. 

Would love to see the finished piece once you're done!

What's up with the polyamory pride flag?

Hi, I don’t think I’m polyamorous but could you explain the poly flag to me? I don’t understand the pi symbol.

I actually didn’t know the significance of the polyamory pride flag myself - I don’t really use it or identify with it myself. I use the infinity heart (or just the infinity symbol) as a pride symbol on clothing/jewelry/stickers/other signifiers, because I prefer it both aesthetically and symbolically.

But here is the blog post by the original creator of the polyamory pride flag, where he explains the symbolism behind it. He says that basically, it stands for the first letter/sound in the word “Polyamory.” He wanted something a bit more obscure to help closeted polyamorous people subtly signal to each other. Plus, the pi symbol was available on computers at the time, and there’s a history of Greek letters being used as pride symbols. Elsewhere, I’ve seen it explained since pi as a number goes on infinitely, it has a similar connotation as the infinity symbol.