Originally devised by the artists Gilbert Baker, Lynn Segerblom, James McNamara and other activists, the design underwent several revisions after its debut in 1978, and continues to inspire variations. Although Baker's original rainbow flag had eight colors, from 1979 to the present day the most common variant consists of six stripes: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. The flag is typically displayed horizontally, with the red stripe on top, as it would be in a natural rainbow.
LGBTQ people and allies currently use rainbow flags and many rainbow-themed items and color schemes as an outward symbol of their identity or support. There are derivations of the rainbow flag that are used to focus attention on specific causes or groups within the community (e.g. transgender people, fighting the AIDS epidemic, inclusion of LGBTQ people of color). In addition to the rainbow, many other flags and symbols are used to communicate specific identities within the LGBTQ community.
History
Origin
Gilbert Baker
Gilbert Baker, born in 1951 and raised in Parsons, Kansas, had served in the U.S. Army between 1970 and 1972. After an honorable discharge, Baker taught himself to sew. In 1974, Baker met Harvey Milk, an influential gay leader, who later challenged Baker to devise a symbol of pride for the gay community. The inspiration for the original gay pride flags may have been the Brotherhood Flag from 1938. The original gay pride flags flew at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade celebration on June 25, 1978.
A close friend of Baker's, independent filmmaker Arthur J. Bressan Jr., pressed him to create a new symbol at "the dawn of a new gay consciousness and freedom". According to a profile published in the Bay Area Reporter in 1985, Baker "chose the rainbow motif because of its associations with the hippie movement of the Sixties but he notes that the use of the design dates all the way back to ancient Egypt." People have speculated that Baker was inspired by the Judy Garland song "Over the Rainbow" (Garland being among the first gay icons), but when asked, Baker said that it was "more about the Rolling Stones and their song 'She's a Rainbow'". Baker was likely influenced by the "Brotherhood Flag" (with five horizontal stripes to represent different races: red, white, brown, yellow, and black) popular among the world peace movement and hippie movement of the 1960s.
The first rainbow flags commissioned by the fledgling pride committee were produced by a team that included artist Lynn Segerblom. Segerblom was then known as Faerie Argyle Rainbow; according to her, she created the original dyeing process for the flags. Thirty volunteers hand-dyed and stitched the first two flags for the parade. The original flag design had eight stripes, with a specific meaning assigned to each of the colors:
Hot pink
Sex
Red
Life
Orange
Healing
Yellow
Sunlight
Green
Nature
Turquoise
Magic
Indigo
Serenity
Violet
Spirit
The two flags originally created for the 1978 parade were believed lost for over four decades, until a remnant of one was discovered among Baker's belongings in 2020.
1978 to 1979
After the assassination of gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk on November 27, 1978, demand for the rainbow flag greatly increased. In response, the San Francisco-based Paramount Flag Company began selling a version using stock rainbow fabric with seven stripes: red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, and violet. As Baker ramped up production of his version of the flag, he too dropped the hot pink stripe because fabric in that color was not readily available. The Paramount Flag Company also began selling a surplus stock of Rainbow Girls flags from its retail store on the southwest corner of Polk and Post, at which Gilbert Baker was an employee.
In 1979, the flag was modified again. Aiming to decorate the street lamps along the parade route with hundreds of rainbow banners, Baker decided to split the motif in two with an even number of stripes flanking each lamp pole. To achieve this effect, he dropped the turquoise stripe that had been used in the seven-stripe flag. The result was the six-stripe version of the flag that would become the standard for future production—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.
1980s to 2000s
In 1989, the rainbow flag came to further nationwide attention in the U.S. after John Stout sued his landlords and won when they attempted to prohibit him from displaying the flag from his West Hollywood, California, apartment balcony.
In 2000, the University of Hawaii at Manoa changed its sports teams' name from "Rainbow Warriors" to "Warriors" and redesigned its logo to eliminate a rainbow from it. Athletic director Hugh Yoshida initially said that the change was to distance the school's athletic program from homosexuality. When this drew criticism, Yoshida then said the change was merely to avoid brand confusion. The school then allowed each team to select its own name, leading to a mix including "Rainbow Warriors", "Warriors", "Rainbows" and "Rainbow Wahine". This decision was reversed in February 2013, by athletic director Ben Jay, dictating that all men's athletic teams be nicknamed "Warriors" and all women's teams "Rainbow Warriors". In May 2013, all teams were once again called "Rainbow Warriors" regardless of sex.
In autumn 2004 several gay businesses in London were ordered by Westminster City Council to remove the rainbow flag from their premises, as its display required planning permission. When one shop applied for permission, the Planning sub-committee refused the application on the chair's casting vote (May 19, 2005), a decision condemned by gay councillors in Westminster and the then-Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. In November the council announced a reversal of policy, stating that most shops and bars would be allowed to fly the rainbow flag without planning permission.
In June 2004 LGBT activists sailed to Australia's uninhabited Coral Sea Islands Territory and raised the rainbow flag, proclaiming the territory independent of Australia, calling it the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands in protest to the Australian government's refusal to recognize same-sex marriages. The rainbow flag was the official flag of the claimed kingdom until its dissolution in 2017 following the legalisation of same sex marriage in Australia.
2010s to present
The White House illuminated in the rainbow flag colors in June 2015
On June 26, 2015, the White House was illuminated in the rainbow flag colors to commemorate the legalization of same-sex marriages in all 50 U.S. states, following the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision.
An emoji version of the flag (🏳️🌈) was formally proposed in July 2016, and released that November.
A portion of one of the original 1978 rainbow flags was donated to the GLBT Historical Society Museum and Archives in San Francisco in April 2021; the section is the only known surviving remnant of the two inaugural eight-color rainbow flags.
In Norway, the flag is reported to symbolize diversity, unity and inclusion, in addition to freedom to be whoever one wants to be and to love whoever one wants to love.
The rainbow flag has been repurposed to manifest a multitude of transnational and globalized ways of being queer. In a few scholarly articles, the rainbow flag is described as a "floating signifier". A floating signifier refers to the person giving the object its interpreted meaning and significance. Flags are ambivalent symbols that hold different ideologies, meanings, and agendas depending on the beholder. Therefore, the rainbow flag is a boundary object that not only brings together queer communities locally and transnationally, but can also create debates and conflicts.
In March 2016, rainbow stamps were created by a postal service common to Sweden and Denmark celebrating pride traversing borders internationally. It has become common to display a rainbow in store fronts or on websites to indicate that the space is queer friendly. Many government official buildings in different countries in Europe and America display the rainbow flag.
In some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, it is illegal to sell (or wear) 'rainbow-coloured' items, as it apparently "indirectly promotes homosexuality" and claims to "contradict normal common sense". The motives have aroused international criticism.
Hidden Flags
There have been many activism statements made with using the rainbow colors to create "hidden flags", in order to express their political agenda and support for gay rights and diversity.
In 2018, Russia hosted the FIFA World Cup, which coincided with Pride Month. Since legislation banned displaying LGBTQ+ symbols, a Spanish advertising agency and a Spanish LGBTQ+ rights group came up with a clever plan for six activists, one from each of six countries with colors corresponding to the rainbow flag (Spain-red, Netherlands-orange, Brazil-yellow, Mexico-green, Argentina-blue, Colombia-purple), wore team jerseys during the World Cup. When they stood together, their jerseys formed a hidden rainbow flag, a symbol visible to the world but potentially less obvious to authorities. This action highlighted Russia's anti-LGBTQ+ laws while raising international awareness for the cause. State Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Trans and Bisexuals (FELGTB) partnered with LOLA Mullenlowe, a Spanish advertising agency, to conceive and execute the hidden flag campaign.
In Poland on August 6, 2020, President Andrzej Duda was sworn in for a second term supporting an anti-LGBTQ+ campaign and the opposing politicians planned beforehand to coordinate and wear a colored outfit to each represent a color of the rainbow to stand in protest.
Critiques
Concern has been expressed among some of the rainbow symbol being white-washed and regressed to maintain a Eurocentric and colonial influence. A concept called "pride for sale" refers to an overflowing amount of publicity and advertising from big companies displaying the rainbow flag and selling pride merchandise during Pride Month, but as soon as Pride Month is over so are all of the promotions (see rainbow capitalism). There is also a critique made about how the pride flag has deviated too much from its purpose as a radical symbol for queer rights specifically.
Notable variations
Progress Pride Flag
Social Justice Pride
New Pride Flag
Intersex Inclusive Progress Pride Flag
Gilbert Baker's nine-stripe flag
Gilbert Baker created a nine-stripe version of the flag in March 2017, adding a lavender stripe to symbolize diversity. Baker created the flag in response to the election of Donald Trump.
Philadelphia eight-stripe flag
In June 2017, the city of Philadelphia adopted a revised version of the flag designed by the marketing firm Tierney that adds black and brown stripes to the top of the standard six-color flag, to draw attention to issues of people of color within the LGBT community.
On February 12, 2018, during the street carnival of São Paulo, thousands of people attended a parade called Love Fest, which celebrated human diversity, sexual and gender equality. A version of the flag, created by Estêvão Romane, co-founder of the festival, was unveiled which presented the original eight stripe flag with a white stripe in the middle, representing all colors (human diversity in terms of religion, gender, sex preferences, ethnicities), and peace and union among all.
Progress Pride Flag
In June 2018, designer Daniel Quasar released a redesign incorporating elements from both the Philadelphia flag and trans pride flag to bring focus on inclusion and progress within the community. The flag design spread quickly as the Progress Pride Flag on social media, prompting worldwide coverage in news outlets. While retaining the common six-stripe rainbow design as a base, the "Progress" variation adds a chevron along the hoist that features black, brown, light blue, pink, and white stripes to bring those communities (marginalized people of color, trans people, and those living with HIV/AIDS and those who have been lost) to the forefront; "the arrow points to the right to show forward movement, while being along the left edge shows that progress still needs to be made."
Social Justice Pride Flag
In July 2018 the Social Justice Pride Flag was released in Chennai, India in the Chennai Queer LitFest inspired by the other variations of the Pride flag around the world. The flag was designed by Chennai-based gay activist Moulee. The design incorporated elements representing Self-Respect Movement, anti-caste movement and leftist ideology in its design. While retaining the original six stripes of the rainbow flag, the Social Justice Pride Flag incorporates black representing the Self-Respect Movement, blue representing Ambedkarite movement and red representing left values.
New Pride Flag
The rainbow flag design is diagonal black, brown, light blue, pink, and white stripes overlaid on a traditional six-color rainbow flag. The design is intended to represent transgender and queer people of color. Puerto Rican author and vegan activist Julia Feliz conceived the idea, and Hayley Brown designed the flag to focus on transgender and queer people of color.
This design resembles a flag proposed earlier by Daniel Quasar, which used a chevron of similar colors on a rainbow background. Quasar's design aimed to represent the same identity groups. The new design's creators, Julia Feliz and Hayley Brown, do not acknowledge Quasar's design. Some critics allege that the new design appropriates aspects of the Puerto Rico Pride flag, while Quasar maintains their design was unintentional and supports the new campaign. The use of chevrons in flags is common, but diagonally placed stripes are less so.
Intersex Inclusive Progress Pride Flag
In 2021, Valentino Vecchietti of Intersex Equality Rights UK redesigned the Progress Pride Flag to incorporate the intersex flag. This design added a yellow triangle with a purple circle in it to the chevron of the Progress Pride flag. It also changed the color of green to a lighter shade without adding new symbolism. Intersex Equality Rights UK posted the new flag on Instagram and Twitter.
Reception
The reception to new variations and iterations of the Pride Flag have been mixed. Supporters have praised the focus on inclusion, and the highlighting the role and discrimination of people of color in the LGBT community. At the same time, some have expressed concern that the changes only act as a "performance, creating the impression of inclusion without real commitment", or that they have been "for the sake of branding", while not reflecting any actual "material steps towards real equality". Others have remained critical, arguing that the original design already acts as a symbol of diversity, and emphasized that the original flag was designed without any racial dimension in mind. Other critics have called the variations "patronizing" and that they have taken away some "universality". Both the Philadelphia Pride Flag and the Progress Pride Flag were met with some controversy and backlash for these reasons, but also praise and widespread adoption.
Quasar's iteration of the progress pride flag is licensed under a Creative Commons license, which excludes commercial use; this has been criticised as not being in keeping with Baker's original intent for the first iteration of the flag. Quasar has stated openly that small organisations can use the flag commercially and the license was chosen to put restrictions on large corporations. Quasar stated that: "A changing point for me was when I started to see it getting used in a way that I didn't personally agree with. Companies were snatching it up, making stuff out of it, and selling it without my attribution attached. It was purely rainbow capitalism based marketing…If you're going to make money off of something that I created within my community it's only fair that you give back not just to me as the artist, but the community itself, too." Criticism of the flag has also been made by LGBTQ+ people of colour, who felt that the flag, despite its inclusive intent, was created without community consultation.
Other Variations
Many variations of the rainbow flag have been used. Some of the more common ones include the Greek letter lambda (lower case) in white in the middle of the flag and a pink triangle or black triangle in the upper left corner. Other colors have been added, such as a black stripe symbolizing those community members lost to AIDS. The rainbow colors have also often been used in gay alterations of national and regional flags, replacing for example the red and white stripes of the flag of the United States. In 2007, the Pride Family Flag was unveiled at the Houston, Texas pride parade.
In the early years of the AIDS pandemic, activists designed a "Victory over AIDS" flag consisting of the standard six-stripe rainbow flag with a black stripe across the bottom. Leonard Matlovich, himself dying of AIDS-related illness, suggested that upon a cure for AIDS being discovered, the black stripes be removed from the flags and burned.
In 2002, another LGBT activist, Eddie Reynoso, recreated Gilbert Baker's original 1978 tie-dye flag, incorporating a blue canton, with white stars that were painted to a pink color, as residents in states across the nation gained the right to same-gender marriage. The flag- named the Pride Constellation, was first painted on a canvas—as a protest symbol during Nevada's constitutional amendment to define marriage as that between a man and a woman. In 2009, the flag was featured prominently on local and national news outlets as they reported on the California Supreme Court's ruling- to uphold the state's marriage equality ban.
Reynoso later rearranged the stars by order of admission into the Union, retaining part of Gilbert Bakers tie-dye flag and the Pride New Glory Flag.
In 2015, Reynoso's flag once again made national news after it was featured across various news outlets reporting on the Obergefell v. Hodges oral arguments at the Supreme Court.
LGBT communities in other countries have adopted the rainbow flag. A South African gay pride flag which is a hybrid of the rainbow flag and the national flag of South Africa was launched in Cape Town in 2010. Flag designer Eugene Brockman said "I truly believe we (the LGBT community) put the dazzle into our rainbow nation and this flag is a symbol of just that."
Government flags
While the rainbow flag has not been officially incorporated into the flags in any countries, some states and municipalities have flown the pride flag alongside the state flag to demonstrate inclusivity and support for LGBTQ+ communities. Some countries, like Germany, allow the Pride flag to be flown on government buildings on specific occasions. Some states, provinces and municipalities allow the Pride Flag to be flown on government buildings. Embassies and consulates of LGBTQ+ friendly countries may fly the Pride flag alongside their national flag to show solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community.
A spending bill passed in 2024 restricts flying any flag other than the US flag over US embassies. This means Pride flags cannot be flown on flagpoles at the top of embassies. However, this doesn't ban displaying Pride flags elsewhere on embassy grounds, like inside offices or on lower flagpoles. The Biden administration has stated their intent to work on repealing this provision.
However, unofficial proposals and designs incorporating the rainbow flag into state, province, and municipalities flags exist, but have not gained widespread adoption.
Notable flag creations
Mile-long flags
The mile-and-a-quarter-long flag (2 km) stretching across Key West in 2003
For the 25th anniversary of the June 1969 Stonewall Riots in 1994, flag creator Baker, aka Sister Chanel 2001 of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, was commissioned to create the world's largest rainbow flag. The mile-long flag, dubbed "Raise the Rainbow", took months of planning and teams of volunteers to coordinate every aspect. The flag utilized the basic six colors and measured 30 feet (9.1 m) wide. After the march, foot-wide (0.30 m) sections of the flag were given to individual sponsors after the event had ended. Additional large sections of the flag were sent with activists and used in pride parades and LGBTQ marches worldwide. One large section was later taken to Shanghai Pride in 2014 by a small contingent of San Francisco Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, and documented in the film Stilettos for Shanghai. The Guinness Book of World Records confirmed it as the world's largest flag.
In 2003, Baker was again commissioned to produce a giant flag marking the 25th anniversary of the flag itself. Dubbed "25 Rainbow Sea to Sea", the project entailed Baker again working with teams of volunteers but this flag utilized the original eight colors and measured one and a quarter miles (2 km) across Key West, Florida, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. The flag was again divided afterwards and sections were sent to over a hundred cities worldwide.
The largest rainbow flag in the Southern Hemisphere is a six-stripe one first flown to mark the fourth Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) Pride in 2014, held in the city of Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape province, South Africa. It measures twelve by eight metres (39 by 26 ft), and flies on the country's tallest flag pole, which is sixty metres (200 ft) high, and is in Donkin Reserve, in Port Elizabeth's central business district. NMB Pride had the flag manufactured, in part, as a symbol for LGBT youth to feel empowered even if they were not able to come out. On the decision to fly the flag, a spokesperson for the municipality said, NMB "officially adds its voice to governments committing, firstly, to recognizing the LGBT community, and most importantly, to uphold the rights of the LGBT community". It is regularly flown for NMB Pride as well as March 21 which is Human Rights Day in South Africa, and International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, both commemorating the 1960 Sharpeville massacre.
On June 1, 2018, Venice Pride in California flew the world's largest free-flying flag to launch United We Pride. After its debut for Venice Pride, the flag traveled to San Francisco at the end of the month for SF Pride and the fortieth anniversary of the rainbow flag's adoption. United We Pride then had the flag sent to Paris, London, Berlin, Vancouver, Sydney, Miami, and Tokyo, ending in New York City for Stonewall 50 – WorldPride NYC 2019. The giant flag was produced by the flag originator Gilbert Baker, and measures 131 square metres (1,410 sq ft).
In June 2019, to coincide with the fifty-year anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, steps at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park were turned into the largest LGBT pride flag. The rainbow-decorated 12-by-100-foot (3.7 m × 30.5 m) staircase Ascend With Pride was installed June 14–30.
The popularity of the rainbow flag has influenced the creation and adoption of a wide variety of multi-color multi-striped flags used to communicate specific identities within the LGBT community, including the bisexual pride flag, pansexual pride flag, and transgender pride flags.
Spirit Day
Spirit Day, an annual LGBT awareness day since 2010, takes its name from the violet stripe representing "spirit" on the rainbow flag. Participants wear purple to show support for LGBT youth who are victims of bullying.
Notable incorporations of the rainbow flag
Freedom Rings
Freedom Rings on a keychain
Freedom Rings, designed by David Spada in 1991, are six aluminum rings, each in one of the colors of the rainbow flag. These rings are worn by themselves or as part of necklaces, bracelets, and keychains. They are a symbol of gay pride, and were originally sold as a fundraiser for the 1991 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade and quickly became a national trend. In June 1992, several of MTV's on-air hosts wore Freedom Rings in recognition of Pride Month, elevating their visibility. They are sometimes referred to as "Fruit Loops".
Gaysper
Gaysper
Gaysper is an LGBT symbol based on the ghost emoji "👻" with a rainbow flag background. It gained popularity in Spain from April 2019 after a tweet from the official account of the far-right party Vox, after which a multitude of users belonging to the LGBT movement began to use it as a symbol. The icon has established itself as an example of the phenomenon of reappropriation of elements of the anti-LGBT discourse in contemporary society through social networks.
Rainbow crossings
Rainbow pedestrian crossing, incorporating rainbow flag and transgender pride flag colors
Beginning in the 2010s, cities around the world have begun installing rainbow crossings to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community, many of which have been made permanent in cities such as Seattle, Paris, San Francisco and Sydney.
GLBT Historical Society: archival collection includes the only known surviving remnant of the original 1978 rainbow flags, along with a sewing machine used in their creation
^Fitzharris, Dustin (June 27, 2008). "True Colors Shining Through: The rainbow flag, a symbol of LGBT Pride, celebrates three decades". New York Blade. 12 (26): 9 – via EBSCO. I come from the '60s, so [the flag's] more about the Rolling Stones and their song 'She's a Rainbow,'" Baker said. "That era was a time when people were asserting themselves as artists in the true sense. But, I get the Garland thing, and being from Kansas, I double get it.
^How the Pride Rainbow Flag Came to Be (video). NBC News. June 23, 2016. Event occurs at 2:30. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2017 – via YouTube. It's a flag, it needed to have depth, and so I liked the idea that each color would represent an element of everyone's life.
^Gilbert Baker: The Gay Betsy Ross (video). In the Life Media. June 23, 2016. Event occurs at 2:31. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved June 2, 2017 – via YouTube.
^"New Pride Flag". June 21, 2021. Archived from the original on June 21, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
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