He dyed the fabrics himself and, with the help of volunteers, stitched together eight strips of brilliant color into a huge banner that spoke volumes: hot pink stood for sexuality, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for the sun, green for nature, turquoise blue for art, indigo for harmony and violet for spirit. It is still widely used, often alongside or superimposed upon the Rainbow Flag. The pink triangle, once imposed by Nazis to identify and persecute homosexuals, had been reclaimed in the 70s as a bold symbol of remembrance and action against persecution. And you have to give them hope.” After winning the election, Milk challenged Gilbert Baker to come up with a symbol of pride for the gay community – a positive alternative to the pink triangle. Milk, once known fondly as the Mayor of Castro St., had campaigned on a positive message of hope for young gay people, saying, “The only thing they have to look forward to is hope. In 1974, Baker’s life changed forever when he met Harvey Milk, who showed him “how action could create change.” Three years after they met, Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors – making him the first openly gay person to hold a high public office in a major American city.
He learned to sew, making all the fabulous 70s clothes that he wanted but couldn’t buy.
After an honorable discharge, he stayed in San Francisco, free to pursue his dreams of being an artist. San Francisco has often been compared to Oz, but Baker didn’t want to click his heels and go back to Kansas. In 1970, a self-described “geeky kid from Kansas” named Gilbert Baker came to San Francisco as an Army draftee. And because many people belong to both communities, they’re not two distinct causes but instead overlap.“A true flag cannot be designed - it has to be torn from the soul of the people.” - Unknown Sometimes called the Resistance Flag (opens in new tab), according to Them writer Matt Baume: "The modern LGBTQ+ liberation movement was touched off by queer and trans people of color and their struggle continues to this day, with both communities seeking justice, equality, and freedom from oppression. The raised fist is a sign of unity and support as well as defiance and resistance, and the various colors on the fist represent diversity. No surprise, the flag has become more popular in 2020 and beyond. Johnson (opens in new tab), the Black drag queen who may have thrown the first brick (opens in new tab) at the Stonewall Inn riots) to the movements. Read on to learn more about the flags, their origins, and their meanings.Īs a representation of Queer People of Color, it's not known who the original creator of the flag was (opens in new tab) but represents solidarity with the BLM movement as well as the intersection of the queer and Black communities (including the importance of figures like Marsha P. In a world in which students are expelled for handing out Pride flags to protest Florida's "Don't Say Gay Bill," the need to show support for LGTBQ+ rights-publicly as well as privately-is as important as ever. Recent Pride events have even more significance in conjunction with BLM protests and activities You may have seen the hashtag #BlackTransLivesMatter, for instance, or the raised-fist resistance Pride flag (more on that below). But what's powerful is that the breadth of LGBTQ+ representation continues to evolve, a nod to the diversity of sex, sexuality, attraction, and gender.
There's also some disagreement about what should be considered the "official" flags, and controversy about some of the flags' origins and meaning. This list of 30 Pride flags utilizes information from a range of sources, in particular The Advocate (opens in new tab)'s comprehensive guide-but even outside of this article, there are many more iterations of Pride flags that exist, including flags from different countries (opens in new tab) and states flags that include relevant symbols and two or more flags combined into one.