Navy Blue Sheets Red Flag

About

Navy Blue Sheets Red Flag refers to online claims that men who have navy blue bed sheets are fuckboys, making it a red flag for men to use navy blue sheets. The theory stems from the fact that navy blue bed sheets are dark in color, meaning they hide stains more effectively than other sheets. Navy blue sheets also theoretically need to be washed less, which shows the potential for laziness or immaturity in a man who uses them. The theory was first shared on TikTok in 2020 and gained viral spread in 2021, inspiring numerous videos and memes attributing navy blue sheets to fuckboys.

Origin

On June 9th, 2020, TikToker^[1] @audreypeters posted a video sharing a number of red flags to spot in a guy's bedroom. One of the red flags is navy blue bedsheets, with the user claiming that she once hooked up with someone with the sheets who was the "spawn of Satan," garnering over 80,000 likes in three years (shown below). She does not specifically attribute the sheets to fuckboys, however, this is the earliest known video to call navy sheets a red flag.

The video gained viral spread, including through an upload of a reaction to the video posted to /r/TikTokCringe^[2] on June 13th, 2020. On May 14th, 2021, InsideHook^[3] published an article about a stand-up set performed by comedian Mary Beth Barone on The Tonight Show where she briefly claims fuckboys have navy blue sheets. In the article, she elaborated on the theory and was quoted as saying:

“This is purely qualitative but I have found that there is a common thread among men who have navy sheets. Much like joggers, oversized watches, and vaping, navy sheets can often be seen as an indicator of fuckboy tendencies […] I think navy sheets are popular among men because, and I’m generalizing here, maybe men don’t feel the need to wash their sheets as much? Navy helps in this effort to strip the bed and wash the sheets as little as possible since navy is a dark color, it doesn’t pick up stains and spots […] If guys want to change this narrative, I’d encourage people who have navy sheets to stop being fuckboys […] When I was in my peak of being single, I really had to take some time to reflect because I realized I had purchased navy sheets. I think I was exposed to so many navy sheets at that time that it became normalized for me. Those sheets have since been retired."

Spread

The idea that navy blue sheets are used by fuckboys spread over the following years. On September 15th, 2022, TikToker^[4] @nicolo.contrada posted a video joking about the theory, garnering over 3.8 million views in a year (shown below, left). On March 18th, 2023, TikToker^[5] @max4cracks posted a comedy video about navy blue sheets that gained over 4 million views in seven months (shown below, right).

On August 26th, TikToker^[6] @_vivian_t_ posted a video referencing the navy sheets theory, garnering over 700,000 views in a month (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References