The inspiration behind the design came from the United States national flag, which had celebrated its bicentennial in 1976, the Pop Art movement, which defined the decades leading up to the seventies with an optimistic investment in new and contemporary ideas, and of course, an actual rainbow. On that day, Baker along with thirty volunteers hand-dyed and stitched two giant flags and hoisted them above the city’s UN Plaza, near city hall. It had eight colours and was designed by the artist and queer activist Gilbert Baker who was commissioned to design something that could represent the LGBTQ community by his friend Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California.
Related: The 15 Best LGBTQ Romance Movies of All Time, Ranked Pride Flag MeaningĮach color on the Pride flag has a specific meaning.June has long been recognised as Pride Month and on this colourful occasion, the rainbow Pride Flag takes centre stage.Įxpect to see it everywhere: stretched across balconies, decorating shop windows and draped over the shoulders of those displaying solidarity with the LGBTQ community.Ī queer icon and a ubiquitous symbol around the world, the Pride Flag first flew in 1978 during San Francisco Pride. They were soon mass-produced and flown at Pride events around the country, and the rainbow flag has become a ubiquitous symbol of Pride today. Rainbow flags was first flown at the 1978 “Gay Freedom Day” parade in San Francisco, and they quickly became the most popular symbol of gay pride. Now the rioters who claimed their freedom at the Stonewall Bar in 1969 would have their own symbol of liberation.” A Rainbow Flag would be our modern alternative to the pink triangle. It was also found in Chinese, Egyptian and Native American history. “In the Book of Genesis, it appeared as proof of a covenant between God and all living creatures. The rainbow came from earliest recorded history as a symbol of hope,” Baker wrote. “A Rainbow Flag was a conscious choice, natural and necessary. He also considered the powerful symbolic significance of rainbows throughout history. We all felt that we needed something that was positive, that celebrated our love.”īaker thought a rainbow flag would better represent the beautiful diversity of the LGBTQIA+ community. It functioned as a Nazi tool of oppression. “Adolph Hitler conceived the pink triangle during World War II as a stigma placed on homosexuals in the same way the Star of David was used against Jews. However, that symbol “ represented a dark chapter in the history of same-sex rights,” he wrote. Related: The 21 LGBTQIA+ Flags (and Their Meanings) Up until that point, a pink triangle had symbolized the gay rights movement, Baker explained in his memoir, Rainbow Warrior: My Life In Color. He came up with the design after prominent gay rights leader Harvey Milk urged him to create a new, positive symbol that the entire LGBTQIA+ community could rally behind. The rainbow Pride flag was designed in 1978 by artist and gay rights activist Gilbert Baker.