The activist waves the rainbow flag. The patriot waves the national flag. The football fan waves their tribal colours. What do this trio have in common? They are all engaged in virtue signalling, a much maligned yet universal human behaviour.

Virtue signalling is the expression of moral inspiration. It comes from our natural desire to share the things that stimulate us. The lover wishes to tell others about their amorous inspiration. The artist wishes to convey their creative inspiration. And the morally excited person wishes to share their virtuous inspiration.

Moral excitement takes many forms. The progressive bursts with pride when a sexually diverse person declares they will live and love as they please. The sports fan cannot contain themselves when their favoured team runs onto the field. The public are roused to patriotism during events of national significance. There is a compulsion to share this excitement: hence the progressive waves the rainbow flag, the sports fan waves the club colours and the patriotic public wave the national flag.

In each case, we are excited by a cause with special virtuous meaning.  Sometimes the cause represents an important moral principle. Sometimes the cause represents tribalism and loyalty. For whatever reason, the cause stimulates our sense of right. Such moral excitement demands expression and that expression takes the form of virtue signalling.

Every cause has its own unique brand and vernacular which facilitates signalling. The progressive tells us to get up and stand up for our rights. The nationalist is from the greatest nation on earth. The football fan is following the pride of the league. When we engage in virtue signalling, we are speaking the language of the cause.

Like any form of human expression, signalling is open to abuse. If we can signal something sincerely, we can signal it insincerely. But it does not follow that all virtue signalling is dishonest. Moral excitement is a real phenomenon with a real need for expression.

We all have a passion. We all have a cause. We are all involved in virtue signalling in one way or another.

Why is it called signalling?

Virtue signalling is a provocative term. Given a choice, we would never describe ourselves as signalling: we would deny that we are seeking attention. Rather, we would say that we are engaged in self expression.

Signalling is not a popular term in any context. For example,the fashionista would usually not admit to sartorial signalling. They are not dressing to please others, they are dressing for their own pleasure. They are not playing to an audience, they are expressing themselves.

Whether in morality or fashion, this argument encounters the same problem: self-expression generally presumes an audience. We may carefully select clothes that align with our personal sense of identity, but if there were no society or no social interaction there would be less pleasure in the exercise. Even the person who ostensibly rejects society and pursues a counter-culture desires approval from like-minded individuals.

Similarly when we wave a flag, we want that flag to be seen. We desire the goodwill and solidarity that comes with the flag. We are proud of our values because they are an important part of our identity.

So despite its unpopularity, virtue signalling is a fair term. When we express ourselves, we usually envisage an audience. We intend to be seen and heard. Some of us are more flamboyant than others. Some of us desire a stage and a crowd. Others may be content to quietly display a flag and allow the bystander to draw their own conclusions. But in each case, we are speaking to an audience and the line between self expression and signalling remains indistinct.

Perhaps they are one and the same.

_{Isamu Drayya, October 2022}

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