Narwhals for Non-Binary Rights Bandana

The narwhal is a strange almost mythical animal. A whale with a tusk growing out through its face, like some sort of salt water unicorn.

When I made the Narwhals for Non-Binary Rights bandana I wanted something that carried the point without needing paragraphs of explanations. Just the animal, the words, and the fact that nature has never been as tidy as people insist.

Not a horn, a tooth

The narwhal's tusk is an enlarged canine that grows straight out through the upper lip. It can reach around three metres. It is packed with nerve endings, which is a strange thing for something that looks like a weapon.

For centuries, traders sold narwhal tusks across Europe as unicorn horn, for enormous sums, to people who genuinely believed they came from a horse with a spike on its head. Elizabeth I is said to have owned one. The most magical object in Europe turned out to be a tooth from an animal nobody had met.

Most narwhals grow one tusk. Some grow two. Scientists still argue about what the tusk is even for: a weapon, a sensor, a signal, all three.

I'm not claiming narwhals are non-binary. They're whales. They don't care. The point is smaller and more stubborn than that. Every time you look closely at something in nature, categories disintegrate.

The words on the bandana

The design says exactly what it is: Narwhals for Non-Binary Rights. No slogan, no cleverness. I liked the idea of someone reading it twice, first as a joke about sea creatures and then as a demand.

How to wear it

Around your neck, on a bag, in your hair, tied to a wrist. Hand drawn and screen printed by me at Ink Spot Press in Brighton, on 100% cotton, 56cm x 56cm.

Take a closer look at the Narwhals for Non-Binary Rights Bandana