The First Flag
Designed by
A History
of the Pride Flag
The six-stripe rainbow flag is a ubiquitous, worldwide symbol of Pride, during the month of June and beyond. But the rainbow wasn’t the first visual symbol for the LGBTQ community—and it’s already being reconsidered, expanding with the movement itself. Here’s how the rainbow flag has evolved since its debut in 1978, and how some members of the community are reinterpreting it in the modern day.
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Gilbert baker
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1978
Before the rainbow flag, the first popular LGBT symbol of empowerment was the upside-down pink triangle. It was a symbol used in Nazi Germany to identify and persecute the LGBTQ community, whose members were then considered to be “sexual deviants.”
1979
The six-striped
Flag
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The first tweak to Baker’s original design was purely practical. In the late ’70s, pink fabric was relatively scarce. If the rainbow flag was to be mass-produced, pink would have to go.
The second tweak was similarly innocuous, but also proved to be long-lasting. After Milk and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone were assassinated in 1978, the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Committee wanted to feature the rainbow flag prominently in its 1979 parade. It decided to split the flag in two and hang three-stripe flags on opposite sides of the street along the parade route. In order to have an even six stripes, the Committee consolidated the turquoise and indigo into one blue stripe. Almost 50 years later, this six-stripe version of the flag endures.
2017
The philly Flag
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Designed by
Tierney & the PHL Office of LGBT Affairs
In response to an increase in racist incidents in the city’s Gayborhood, the Philadelphia Office of LGBT Affairs collaborated with creative agency Tierney to rethink the rainbow. The Philly flag, debuted at the city’s first annual Pride Kick-Off in 2017, added black and brown stripes to the existing six-stripe design. The new flag was meant to demonstrate Philadelphia’s commitment to Queer People of Color.
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2018
the progress flag
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Designed by
Daniel Quasar
A year after Philadelphia’s flag debuted, artist Daniel Quasar further broadened the scope of the Pride flag. Quasar’s Progress Flag relocates the Philly flag’s black and brown stripes into a five-striped chevron on the left side of the flag. Joining them are white, light blue, and pink stripes, which represent the Transgender community.
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The
Gallery of
community
flags
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The classic rainbow flag is far from the only visual symbol you’ll see at Pride. Many more specific communities have their own symbols, some of which borrow from the original rainbow’s structure. Here’s a gallery of a few of the most popular community flags, but there are many more.
BIsexual
pride flag
Designed by
Michael Page
1985
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transgender pride flag
2000
Designed by
Monica Helms
Lesbian Pride flag Labrys
2000
Designed by
Sean Campbell
Pansexual
pride flag
2010
Designed by
jasper v.
Asexual pride
flag
2010
Designed by
Asexual Visibility
And Education Network user “standup”
genderqueer pride flag
2011
Designed by
Marilyn Moxie
Lesbian Pride flag Stripes
2018
Designed by
emily gwen
Intersex
pride flag
2013
Designed by
Morgan Carpenter
non-binary pride flag
2014
Designed by
Kyle Rowan
genderfluid
pride flag
2018
Designed by
JJ Poole
Click on the flags
Tri Vo
Design by
Tom DeVoto & Tri Vo
Story by
San Francisco Travel Association
A Brief History of the Rainbow Flag
PhillyMag
Philly’s Pride Flag to Get Two New Stripes: Black and Brown
them
This Pride Flag Redesign Represents the Diversity of the LGBTQ+ Community
them
The Progress Pride Flag is Getting an Intersex-Inclusive Makeover
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what do the colors mean?
sunlight
spirit
healing
harmony
life
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In the latter half of the 20th century, the LGBT community attempted to reclaim the badge and transform it into a point of pride. But many felt that it was impossible to separate the pink triangle from its traumatic past. Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist and the first openly gay elected official of high office in a major city, challenged his friend, the artist Gilbert Baker, to come up with a new symbol—one free of the weight of its painful past. The result: the original, eight-striped rainbow flag, debuted at the 1978 “Gay Freedom Day” Parade in San Francisco.
Gilbert Baker at the 1978 “Gay Freedom Day” Parade in San Francisco
Philadelphia City Hall, June 2017
mexico, 2018
france, 2019
taiwan, 2018
cuba, 2019
the white house, 2015
2021
the progress
Progress flag
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Designed by
Valentino Vecchietti
The latest remix of the Pride flag adds to the “Progress” chevron. These new elements—a yellow triangle enclosing a purple circle—come from the Intersex Pride flag, originally designed by Morgan Carpenter in 2013. The circle symbolizes being unbroken and whole, according to Carpenter, while the colors are meant to contrast with blue and pink (the traditional binary, gendered colors).
2018
the flag
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Designed by
Daniel Quasar
The latest remix of the Pride flag adds to the “Progress” chevron. These new elements—a yellow triangle enclosing a purple circle—come from the Intersex Pride flag, originally designed by Morgan Carpenter in 2013. The circle symbolizes being unbroken and whole, according to Carpenter, while the colors are meant to contrast with blue and pink (the traditional binary, gendered colors).
