Since June is officially Pride month, it's time to fly your own flag high, but before you do, find out what the colors of the rainbow flag mean below.
As the popularity of the flag grew, its design was adapted to meet demand, and by 1979, the six-color version became the official symbol for gay pride. Instead, it became a universal symbol for LGBT pride and began hanging from windows, flying high at demonstrations, and cropping up all over the country.
Originally hand-stitched and hand-dyed with eight colors - pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, and purple - the rainbow flag became much more than a simple reaction to homophobic behavior. In 1978, though, a gay artist and civil rights activist Gilbert Baker, alongside the Grove Street gay community in San Francisco, made the first rainbow pride flag as a response to an anti-gay community that began using the pink triangle the Nazis used to identify gay individuals. You know the Pride flag well, but what is the meaning of the rainbow flag? Its history is as interesting as it is colorful.įrom peace movements to political parties, the rainbow flag has been the symbol of dozens of historical and cultural organizations. You've seen it on buildings, bumper stickers, and front lawns, and you've waved one at parades, rallies, and protests. The most recognizable Pride flag is the rainbow one and its got a fascinating history.Celebrants first raised the rainbow flag on June 25, 1978, at San Franciscos Gay Pride Day, and according to CNN, it was designed by Gilbert Baker (pictured), a friend of the states first openly gay man elected to office.
