The iconic rainbow Pride flag, often seen adorning homes, businesses, and car bumpers worldwide, is much more than a colorful display. It stands as a vibrant testament to LGBTQIA+ pride, a symbol of safe spaces, and an emblem of unwavering support.
“The LGBTQ+ community exists everywhere—exemplified by the rainbow,” says Robert Kesten, executive director of the Stonewall Museum.
When was the rainbow flag first waved?
In preparation for the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978, California’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, commissioned Gilbert Baker—an openly gay veteran, drag queen, activist, and artist—to create a symbol representing the LGBTQIA+ community.
Baker’s eight-colored rainbow-striped flag, which he felt expressed the LGBTQIA+ community’s joy, beauty, and power, was inspired by the American flag. “In the late 1970s, national pride was at a peak because of the bicentennial, and hom*ophobia was rife in U.S. society. Using national symbols for queer pride resonated with many queer people,” says Christopher Ewing, assistant professor of history at Purdue University.
The original configuration included pink to signify sex; red, life; orange, healing; yellow, sunlight; green, nature; turquoise, magic; blue, harmony; and purple, spirit. After the assassination of Harvey Milk in November 1978, demand for the flag increased, leading to the removal of the pink and turquoise stripes due to manufacturing constraints. The six remaining rainbow colors then became the enduring symbol of gay pride.
(From LGBT to LGBTQIA+: The evolving recognition of identity.)
How the rainbow flag became more inclusive
Baker’s rainbow flag has been updated many times to be more inclusive. “The evolution of the rainbow flag reflects how the queer community continues to grapple with issues of race and gender. Recent iterations of the flag center queer BIPOC and gender nonconforming people who face discrimination in queer spaces,” says Cookie Woolner, associate professor of history at the University of Memphis.
In 2017, the Philly Pride flag was unveiled at Philadelphia City Hall, created by Philadelphia’s Office of LGBT Affairs under the leadership of Amber Hikes. This version features black and brown stripes at the top to include the QTBIPOC (Queer, Trans*, Black, Indigenous People of Color) community that has historically been excluded from queer movements despite facing prejudice and violence as double minorities.
“The involvement of QTBIPOC was central to the Stonewall rebellion. These additions pay homage to them and center them,” says Rebekkah Mulholland, assistant professor of history at CSU Sacramento.
In 2018, the rainbow emblem was updated by nonbinary artist Daniel Quasar to include the white, pale pink, and blue stripes of the trans* pride flag, symbolizing a commitment to greater inclusivity. “The Progress Pride flag is about resisting the erasure of QTBIPOC within the movement,” Ewing says. “It reincorporates pink, one of the original colors that was jettisoned in a new context.”
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The black and brown stripes form a chevron shape filled with the light blue, pink, and white colors of the trans* flag. “It’s important to center trans* people because they’ve often been on the front lines of activism and faced the most repercussions due to their often-visible gender transgression,” Woolner says.
In 2020, a new LGBTQIA+ rainbow pride flag emerged—The Queer People of Color flag. Although the designer remains unknown, the banner highlights queer and racial equity by incorporating the Black Lives Matter motif of a raised fist in a gradient of skin tones. Ewing says that the “political movement that led to the creation of the rainbow flag in the late 1970s is unimaginable without the contributions of QTBIPOC” and that centering QTBIPOC “asserts the unmovable place of people of color in the LGBTQIA+ movement.”
The most recent iteration of the pride flag, the Intersex-Inclusive Pride flag, was crafted in 2021 by Valentino Vecchietti, an intersex columnist and media personality. “Pride flags exist not to contain or delineate us, but to reflect our diverse existence and to create inclusive visibility,” she says. “Inclusion cannot be assumed; it matters that we can see it.” The flag builds upon the Progress Pride design by incorporating a purple circle within a yellow triangle, symbolizing intersex pride. With 11 colors, it’s a subtle nod to the original rainbow pride emblem.
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Baker’s flag has undergone numerous revisions — and will likely continue to be reimagined. “The more we see how broad the spectrum of human identity is, the more iterations of the flag will be,” Kesten says. “In a community as vibrant, creative, and [engaged in activism] as this one, the flag will continue to evolve.”
FAQs
In preparation for the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978, California's first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, commissioned Gilbert Baker—an openly gay veteran, drag queen, activist, and artist—to create a symbol representing the LGBTQIA+ community.
What does the rainbow symbolize on the LGBT flag? ›
The rainbow flag is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer pride commonly used at LGBTQIA+ rights events worldwide. The colors reflect the diversity of the community in addition to the spectrum of human sexuality and gender.
What is the symbol of the LGBT community? ›
Rainbow. The best-known symbol for the LGBTQ+ community, the rainbow's association with Pride dates to 1978 when Gilbert Baker designed the original Pride flag.
What is the symbolism of the rainbow? ›
The rainbow will always represent joy and happiness. But today, it means something more. Now, the rainbow flag is a symbol of hope and inclusion in the LGBTQ community that's so ubiquitous it's hard to imagine a Pride celebration without vivid banners flying overhead and outfits made from every color in the rainbow.
What is the meaning of LGBT? ›
LGBT: Abbreviation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. An umbrella term used to refer to the community as a whole. Pansexual/Omnisexual: Terms used to describe people who have romantic, sexual or affectional desire for people of all genders and sexes.
What does the 🌈 mean from a boy? ›
The 🌈 (rainbow) emoji is used to signify feelings like happiness, good luck, harmony, and unity. It can also be used to acknowledge beautiful weather outside, or to symbolize one's attachment to the LGBTQ+ movement (since the LGBTQ+ pride flag features a rainbow).
Why did God make the rainbow? ›
After the flood, God made a covenant with Noah and all his descendants that never again would the human family be threatened with total annihilation by flood. The sign God gave Noah to assure him of this covenant was the rainbow. “Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds I will remember my covenant.”
What is the symbol for bisexuality? ›
Double crescent moon. Some bisexual individuals object to the use of a pink triangle in the biangles symbol of bisexuality (see above), as it was a symbol that Adolf Hitler's regime used to tag and persecute hom*osexuals. In response, a double crescent moon symbol of bisexuality was devised by Vivian Wagner in 1998.
What does the P in pride stand for? ›
Originally adopted by UCSF Medical Center 16 years ago, these set of values are organized under the acronym PRIDE, which stands for Professionalism, Respect, Integrity, Diversity and Excellence. These are important core values for everyone who works, learns, teaches and discovers at UCSF.
What is the intersex pride symbol? ›
In 2013, an activist designed the intersex flag using yellow and purple to contrast with blue and pink, which have traditionally been seen as binary, gendered colors. The unbroken circle represents being whole.
The rainbow that I have put in the sky will be my sign to you and to every living creature on earth. It will remind you that I will keep this promise forever. When I send clouds over the earth, and a rainbow appears in the sky, I will remember my promise to you and to all other living creatures.
What is rainbow explain? ›
A rainbow is a natural spectrum appearing in the sky after a rain shower. It is caused by dispersion of sunlight by tiny water droplets, present in the atmosphere. A rainbow is always formed in a direction opposite to that of the Sun. The water droplets act like small prisms.
What is the promise of a rainbow? ›
I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."
When did LGBTQ start using the rainbow? ›
Although the original rainbow flag with eight colors was used in 1978 in San Francisco's Gay Freedom Day parade, it wasn't until 1994 that the rainbow flag was accepted as the symbol for the LGBTQ community. Is the rainbow flag only a representation for the LGBTQ community in the United States?
What do the letters in LGBTQIA2S+ mean? ›
The GSCC primarily uses the acronym “LGBTQIA2S+.” This acronym stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and trans, queer and questioning, intersex, asexual or agender, and two-spirit. This plus-sign signifies additional identity terms.
What is the symbol of the LGBTQ? ›
The rainbow flag is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBT) pride and LGBT social movements in use since the 1970s.
What does the Bible say about the rainbow? ›
The rainbow that I have put in the sky will be my sign to you and to every living creature on earth. It will remind you that I will keep this promise forever. When I send clouds over the earth, and a rainbow appears in the sky, I will remember my promise to you and to all other living creatures.
What does it mean when you see a rainbow after it rains? ›
A rainbow requires water droplets to be floating in the air. That's why we see them right after it rains. The Sun must be behind you and the clouds cleared away from the Sun for the rainbow to appear.
Where did the rainbow come from? ›
The rainbow flag was created in 1978 by artist, designer, Vietnam War veteran and then-drag performer, Gilbert Baker. He was commissioned to create a flag by another gay icon, politician Harvey Milk, for San Francisco's annual pride parade.
What is the pace rainbow flag? ›
The Rainbow flag
The most common variety has seven colours—purple, blue, azure, green, yellow, orange, and red—and is emblazoned in bold with the Italian word PACE, meaning "peace".
