The best-known swinger signal is an upside-down pineapple: a magnet on a cruise cabin door, a print on a T-shirt, sometimes a tattoo. It tells other guests that a couple is open to partner swapping. Britain had its own version a generation earlier, pampas grass in the front garden. And there is a black ring on the right hand, which means one thing or nearly its opposite depending on the finger it sits on.
None of these is a contract. They are hints, and most of the time a pineapple is just a pineapple. Here is what each one is said to mean, where it came from, and what has happened to it lately.
The upside-down pineapple
On cruise ships the upside-down pineapple is read as a sign of openness to swinging. It turns up as door magnets, on clothing and as tattoos. The right way up, it is tropical decoration and nothing more, which is exactly what makes the inverted version useful: anyone not in on the code walks straight past it.
The pineapple was a symbol long before it was a wink. American colonists began importing pineapples from the Caribbean in the seventeenth century, and because the fruit was rare and hard to get there in one piece, serving a ripe one to guests became a mark of generous hospitality. A popular New England story has ship captains hanging a pineapple outside the house when they came home from the Caribbean, as a sign that they were back and had something from the islands to share. The welcome-to-my-home meaning is the one swingers turned upside down.
Did Carnival ban pineapples on cabin doors?
Briefly, it looked that way. In November 2024, Carnival Cruise Line's brand ambassador John Heald answered a passenger's question about meeting other single cruisers on his Facebook page. A commenter joked that an upside-down pineapple on the door would do the trick, and Heald replied that such symbols were "definitely no longer allowed on the ships" and would be removed from cabin doors.
The story spread fast, and then the comment disappeared. By 30 November 2024 cruise writers going back through the thread could no longer find Heald's reply, only the responses to it. We could not find a written Carnival rule on pineapples either, so treat the "ban" as one deleted comment rather than ship policy.
Pampas grass in the front garden
In Britain the signal was a plant. During the 1970s and 1980s a rumour spread that pampas grass in a front garden meant the householders were open to swinging. Nobody has pinned down where it started; one guess is that a tall privacy screen made people wonder what was going on behind it.
The rumour was bad for the plant, which fell out of favour for years. It is now back in fashion as dried stems in vases and home decor, and most of the people buying it have never heard the story.
The black ring: check which finger
Some lifestyle writers say that a black ring worn on any finger of the right hand except the middle one marks the wearer as a swinger. The exception matters, because the right middle finger already belongs to a different code.
A plain black ring on the right middle finger is a symbol of asexuality: people who feel little or no sexual attraction. The convention began in a thread on the Asexual Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) forum in June 2005. Black was picked as a neutral colour, and the right hand so the ring would not clash with a wedding or engagement ring on the left.
So one finger over can flip the message from "interested" to "not interested at all". If you are going to read a ring, read it carefully. Better still, ask.
Signals open a conversation, they do not replace one
Every one of these signals has an innocent double. People put pineapples on doors because they like pineapples, plant pampas grass because it is in fashion, and wear black rings because they like black rings. A symbol can tell you who might be worth talking to. It never tells you what anyone has agreed to.
That is the advantage of a swingers club over a cabin door: everybody inside is there for the same reason, the house rules are written down, and staff are on hand. If you are new to that scene, our guide to FKK, naturism, swingers and libertine clubs explains how a swingers club differs from the formats it gets confused with.
Common questions
What does an upside-down pineapple mean on a cruise ship?
On a cabin door, on clothing or as a tattoo, an upside-down pineapple is read as a sign that the people behind it are open to swinging. The right way up, a pineapple is just a tropical decoration, and many are exactly that.
Are upside-down pineapples banned on Carnival cruises?
In November 2024 Carnival's brand ambassador John Heald wrote on Facebook that they were no longer allowed and would be removed from cabin doors, but that comment was deleted within days. We could not find a written Carnival rule on pineapples.
Why did pampas grass get linked to swingers?
A rumour in 1970s and 1980s Britain held that pampas grass in a front garden meant the owners were open to swinging. Nobody has traced where it began. It hurt the plant's sales for years, and pampas is now back in fashion.
What does a black ring on the right middle finger mean?
It is a symbol of asexuality, a convention that began on the AVEN forum in 2005. Some writers claim a black ring on one of the other right-hand fingers means the wearer is a swinger, so the finger matters.