“The point of the rainbow flag was that we were all together - all colors, types, and sexualities were represented,” Jonathan David Katz, Ph.D., an associate professor of Global Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Buffalo, previously told Bustle. You put a rainbow flag on your windshield and you're saying something." Baker ended up saying something with each color he chose to put on the flag: "Pink is for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sun, green for nature, turquoise for magic, blue for serenity and purple for the spirit.” In 2017, a month before his death, Baker spoke with ABC7, a local San Francisco news channel, explaining that gay rights activist Harvey Milk had been the one to approach him about creating the original rainbow flag, seeking a symbol under which the LGBTQ+ community could unite, something that "would take the place of the dreaded pink triangle used decades ago by the Nazis to identify homosexuals."īaker told ABC7 he wanted to make a flag because " lags are about power. To get prepared for Pride, here's 10 pride flags whose symbolism everyone should know. The rainbow flag, however, is not the only queer pride flag around.
The rainbow pride flag, created in 1978 by gay activist Gilbert Baker, has occasionally gone through some cosmetic changes - including a petition to add black and brown to the flag to uplift queer people of color - but it is still the single most unifying and identifiable symbol of the LGBTQ+ community. And, it was redesigned by Valentino Vecchietti.It's officially Pride Month, which means you're going to spend the next 29 days surrounded by all things rainbow. Source: Even this year the Rainbow flag was updated yet again to ensure inclusivity. The new design incorporates intersex people into the movement. The pink represented femininity, blue represented masculinity and white represented non binary. Source: In 2018, Daniel Quasar added the colors of the transgender cause into the flag- blue, white and pink. This was created in response to growing issues around racism and intersectionality. For example, in June 2017, two new colours were added to the 6-strip coloured flag- black and brown by Amber Hikes.
Source: Though there are more versions of the flag that we've been introduced to and should know about. This is the most commonly recognised flag that has been around for almost 42 years. Source: Red (Life), Orange (Healing), Yellow (Sunlight), Green (Nature), Blue (Serenity), Violet (Spirit). And, each of the colours represented something. Source: Later, the rainbow flag comprised of 6 vibrant colours- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.
This flag had two colours, Pink and Violet, which were later dropped out in 1998 by Baker himself for the purpose of functionality. He dyed and sewed the bands together himself. In case you didn't know, the first LGBT flag was a 8-strip flag, designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978.