Aromantic asexual, colloquially shortened to aroace or aro-ace, is a romantic and sexual orientation characterized by experiencing little to no romantic and sexual attraction. The name comes from combining the two attraction minorities, aromanticism and asexuality, specifically the shortened versions of their names: "aro" for aromantic and "ace" for asexual, and forming a combined term using the split attraction model.

A 2020 study found that 26% of asexual people also identify as aromantic.

Just like asexuality and aromanticism, aro-ace identities exist on a spectrum.

Community and symbols

The most popular aro-ace flag[citation needed] consists of five horizontal bars, including (from top to bottom) orange, yellow, white, and two shades of blue. Tumblr user aroaesflags designed the flag. The two shades of blue represent the spectrum of aroace identities and experiences. White represents wholeness, yellow represents love and relationships outside of more conventional ideas of romantic and sexual relationships, and orange represents community. According to the creator, blue sits between aromantic green and asexual purple on the color wheel, while orange sits between green and purple in the opposite direction.

Stigma and social invisibility

Several aro-ace people report struggling with social invisibility, even among the LGBTQ+ community. While this often contributes to feelings of loneliness, some also use it as a means of camouflaging at work or school, though this often reinforces feelings of loneliness.

Many aro-ace people also struggle with amatonormativity and allonormativity, social assumptions that treat romantic and sexual attraction as more important and contribute to aro/ace erasure and stigma.