The Pride Flag is one of the most recognizable emblems in the world. Flown from buildings, carried in parades, and worn on clothing, its vibrant rainbow stripes have become a global symbol of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community. But the flag is far more than just a colorful banner; it is a powerful, living document that tells a story of identity, struggle, hope, and evolution. Its seemingly simple design holds deep, specific meanings that have been intentionally layered and updated over decades. The history of the Pride Flag is the history of the community it represents—a continuous journey toward greater visibility, understanding, and inclusivity.
The Pride Flag symbolizes the vast diversity, collective pride, and unwavering solidarity of the LGBTQ+ community. The rainbow itself serves as a powerful metaphor for this inclusivity; it is a natural phenomenon composed of a spectrum of different colors, each distinct yet part of a unified and beautiful whole. This universal symbolism, however, is just the beginning of the story. Each colored stripe was assigned a specific meaning by its creator to represent a core value of the community. Furthermore, the flag’s design has been thoughtfully and deliberately revised over time. These changes were made not to erase the past, but to more explicitly represent and uplift the voices and experiences of the most marginalized members of the community, transforming the flag into a dynamic symbol of ongoing progress.
A Symbol of Hope is Born: The First Rainbow Flag
The creation of the first Pride Flag was a deliberate and revolutionary act, born from a specific need within the vibrant activist culture of 1970s San Francisco. It was a conscious effort to give a growing social movement a symbol that reflected its own values of hope and diversity.
The Need for a New Symbol
Before the rainbow flag, one of the most common symbols used by the gay community was the pink triangle. This symbol had a dark and painful history; it was originally used by the Nazis in concentration camps to identify and persecute men imprisoned for their homosexuality. While activists in the 1970s had reclaimed the triangle as a symbol of defiance and remembrance, its origins were rooted in hatred and trauma. The community needed a new emblem, one that was positive, celebratory, and created by them, for them. It needed a symbol that spoke of the future, not just the painful past.
Gilbert Baker’s Vision
This task fell to Gilbert Baker, a San Francisco-based artist, U.S. Army veteran, and prominent drag queen. In 1977, Harvey Milk, a friend of Baker’s and one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States, challenged him to create a new symbol of pride for the gay community. Baker was uniquely suited for the task, drawing inspiration from several powerful sources. He saw the rainbow as a “natural flag in the sky,” a universal symbol of hope and diversity that belonged to everyone. He was also moved by the hopeful lyrics of Judy Garland’s signature song, “Over the Rainbow,” which had long been an anthem within the gay community.
Crucially, Baker was also inspired by the political power of flags. The widespread use of the American flag during the nation’s bicentennial celebrations in 1976 showed him how a flag could function as a potent symbol of identity, power, and festivity. He recognized that a flag was more than just cloth; it was a declaration. This understanding was pivotal. The creation of the Pride Flag was not merely an artistic project; it was a strategic political act. It represented a conscious rebranding of a social movement, replacing a symbol of historical persecution with a self-defined emblem of power and resilience. By choosing a rainbow and assigning specific, positive values to its colors, Baker and the community were seizing control of their own narrative, shifting it from one of victimhood to one of pride.
The First Flags Unfurled
With a modest budget of $1,000 from the Gay Freedom Day decoration committee, Baker assembled a team of around 30 volunteers to bring his vision to life. In the attic of the Gay Community Center on Grove Street in San Francisco, this dedicated group, which included fellow artists Lynn Segerblom (also known as Faerie Argyle Rainbow) and James McNamara, worked tirelessly. They filled trash cans with water and dye and, using their hands, created massive bolts of colored cotton. They then stitched these pieces together to create two monumental flags, each measuring 30 by 60 feet.
These first rainbow flags were unveiled to the world at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978, marking a historic moment for the community. The sight of these enormous, vibrant banners flying in the United Nations Plaza was a joyous and powerful declaration of a new era.
The Meaning of the Eight Original Colors
Baker’s original design was a rich tapestry of meaning, with eight distinct stripes, each assigned a specific symbolic value. This went far beyond a simple representation of a rainbow, creating a layered statement about the community’s core principles.
- Hot Pink: Representing Sex
- Red: Representing Life
- Orange: Representing Healing
- Yellow: Representing Sunlight
- Green: Representing Nature
- Turquoise: Representing Magic & Art
- Indigo: Representing Serenity & Harmony
- Violet: Representing Spirit
This eight-color flag was a complete and deliberate work of art, with each component contributing to a holistic vision of a diverse and empowered community.
From Eight Stripes to Six: A Practical Evolution
The eight-stripe rainbow flag that debuted in 1978 would soon be modified into the six-stripe version that became a global icon for decades. This change was not driven by a shift in ideology or symbolism but by the practical realities of manufacturing and public display. The story of this evolution reveals how a powerful symbol can be shaped by mundane circumstances, with its ultimate meaning and recognition transcending its practical origins.
The Loss of Hot Pink
In November 1978, the LGBTQ+ community was shaken by the assassination of Harvey Milk. In the wake of this tragedy, the rainbow flag was embraced with new urgency as a symbol of defiance, resilience, and solidarity. Demand for the flag surged as people sought a way to publicly mourn and show their strength. Gilbert Baker began working with the Paramount Flag Co. of San Francisco to mass-produce the flag to meet this demand.
However, they immediately ran into a logistical problem: the hot pink fabric dye was commercially unavailable in the quantities they needed. Faced with this manufacturing constraint, the company began producing a version of the flag without the hot pink stripe. This practical necessity led to the creation of a seven-stripe flag.
The Removal of Turquoise
The flag was modified again the following year, in 1979. As organizers planned that year’s Pride parade, they envisioned decorating the entire parade route along Market Street with rainbow banners. Their idea was to split the flag’s colors, hanging three stripes on one side of the streetlamps and three on the other. To achieve this symmetrical design, an even number of stripes was needed.
To solve this design challenge, the parade committee, with Baker’s approval, decided to drop another stripe. The turquoise stripe was removed, resulting in a six-stripe flag. At the same time, the indigo stripe was replaced with a more standard royal blue to simplify the color scheme further.
The Six-Color Standard and Its Enduring Symbolism
This series of practical adjustments resulted in the six-stripe flag that would become the most widely recognized symbol of the LGBTQ+ community for more than three decades. The meanings of the remaining colors carried over directly from Baker’s original vision, continuing to represent the core values he had first articulated.
- Red: Life
- Orange: Healing
- Yellow: Sunlight
- Green: Nature
- Blue: Serenity/Harmony
- Violet: Spirit
The fact that this pragmatically derived version of the flag became so universally beloved and powerful demonstrates that a symbol’s ultimate meaning is forged by the community that adopts it. The six-stripe flag became an international beacon of acceptance, community, diversity, and love, its iconic status cemented not by a committee’s decision on symbolism, but by real-world use and embrace.
Adding More Color: Acknowledging People of Color
For nearly 40 years, the six-stripe rainbow flag stood as the primary symbol of the LGBTQ+ community. In 2017, however, the flag underwent its first major ideological evolution. This change marked a pivotal moment, transforming the flag from a symbol primarily representing unity against external forces to a tool for internal dialogue, critique, and a call for greater accountability within the community itself.
The “More Color More Pride” Campaign
In June 2017, the city of Philadelphia unveiled a new version of the Pride Flag. Developed through a partnership between the Philadelphia Office of LGBT Affairs and the design agency Tierney, this flag added two new stripes—black and brown—to the top of the standard six-color rainbow. This initiative, known as the “More Color More Pride” campaign, was a direct and intentional statement.
A Response to Racism
This redesign was not an arbitrary artistic choice; it was born from protest and activism. The flag was created in direct response to long-standing issues of racism experienced by people of color within Philadelphia’s own LGBTQ+ community spaces, often referred to as the “Gayborhood.” Activists and journalists had exposed patterns of discrimination in bars, a lack of diversity in the leadership of community organizations, and a general feeling that the voices of Black and brown queer people were being ignored.
The flag was intended to be a concrete symbol marking a commitment to change after decades of advocacy. It was designed to “spotlight the importance of including queer people of colour” and to force a necessary and overdue conversation about intersectionality—the understanding that different aspects of a person’s identity, such as race, gender, and sexual orientation, can create overlapping and compounded experiences of discrimination.
Symbolism of the Black and Brown Stripes
The meaning of the new stripes was unambiguous: the black and brown stripes were added to explicitly represent Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) within the LGBTQ+ community. The campaign’s goal was to highlight the fact that these individuals and their crucial contributions to the gay rights movement had often been marginalized or rendered invisible within the mainstream narrative. By placing these colors at the very top of the flag, the design made a powerful statement about prioritizing the needs and experiences of these community members.
Community Dialogue and Pushback
The introduction of the Philadelphia flag sparked a significant conversation across the global LGBTQ+ community. Some criticized the design, arguing that the original rainbow was always meant to be universal and represent everyone, regardless of race. However, proponents of the new flag saw this pushback as evidence of its necessity. Amber Hikes, the former executive director of the Philadelphia Office of LGBT Affairs who helped launch the flag, famously argued that the criticism “proved the point” that an explicit and visible reminder of racial inclusion was desperately needed.
This moment challenged the idea of a monolithic LGBTQ+ experience. It forced the community to confront the reality that a symbol of unity can feel hollow if it does not reflect a commitment to justice for all its members. The Philadelphia flag fundamentally shifted the purpose of the Pride Flag, establishing it as a symbol that must not only represent the community’s identity to the outside world but also reflect its aspirations for internal equity and justice.
A Chevron of Progress: Highlighting Trans and Marginalized Voices
Just one year after the Philadelphia flag initiated a crucial conversation about race, a new design emerged that would synthesize this progress and expand the flag’s inclusivity even further. In 2018, non-binary artist and graphic designer Daniel Quasar (who uses xe/xyr pronouns) created the “Progress Pride Flag,” a design that masterfully integrated multiple symbols into a cohesive and deeply meaningful new emblem.
Daniel Quasar’s Redesign
Quasar’s design built upon the foundations of both the traditional six-color rainbow and the eight-color Philadelphia flag. Instead of simply adding more horizontal stripes, Quasar introduced a five-colored chevron—a triangle shape—on the hoist (the left side) of the flag, overlaid on top of the classic rainbow. This design choice was deliberate and highly symbolic.
The Symbolism of the Chevron
The chevron contains stripes that represent communities requiring specific and urgent focus. It includes the black and brown stripes from the Philadelphia flag to continue representing people of color. It also incorporates three new colors—light blue, pink, and white—which are the colors of the Transgender Pride Flag, originally designed by transgender woman Monica Helms in 1999.
- Light Blue, Pink, and White: These stripes explicitly represent transgender and non-binary people. The light blue and pink are the colors traditionally associated with baby boys and girls, respectively. The white stripe in the middle represents those who are intersex, those who are transitioning, and those who see themselves as having a neutral or undefined gender.
- Black and Brown: These stripes continue to represent marginalized Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.
- Dual Meaning of the Black Stripe: Quasar’s design also gave the black stripe an additional layer of meaning. It serves as a tribute to “those living with AIDS and the stigma and prejudice surrounding them, and those who have been lost to the disease”.
A Design That Emphasizes Movement
The design of the Progress Pride Flag is a masterclass in symbolic communication. The chevron is shaped like an arrow, pointing to the right to signify forward movement and to emphasize that progress still needs to be made. By placing this chevron on the hoist of the flag—the part that is attached to the flagpole and “leads” when carried—Quasar created a powerful visual hierarchy. This placement visually argues that progress on issues of racial justice and transgender rights must be at the forefront of the LGBTQ+ community’s mission.
The design doesn’t erase the original rainbow; it honors it while simultaneously arguing that the universal promise of that rainbow can only be fulfilled by first centering and uplifting the most marginalized voices. The separation of the chevron from the main rainbow stripes visually communicates that these issues require specific, focused attention. The design itself becomes a statement of political priority, a call to action woven into the fabric of the community’s most cherished symbol.
The Circle of Wholeness: Including the Intersex Community
The evolution of the Pride Flag continued in 2021 with its most recent major update. This new design expanded the flag’s message of inclusivity to encompass the intersex community, moving the conversation beyond gender identity and sexual orientation to include natural variations in sex characteristics. This addition represents the flag’s most profound evolution yet, transforming it into a radical statement about bodily autonomy and the celebration of all forms of human diversity.
Valentino Vecchietti’s Inclusive Design
In 2021, Valentino Vecchietti, an intersex advocate and artist with the UK-based organization Intersex Equality Rights, unveiled a new version of the flag. Vecchietti thoughtfully incorporated the design of the Intersex flag into Daniel Quasar’s Progress Pride Flag.
The Intersex Flag and Its Meaning
The Intersex flag was created in 2013 by Morgan Carpenter of Intersex Human Rights Australia. It consists of a golden yellow background with a purple circle in the center. Vecchietti integrated this powerful symbol by adding a yellow triangle containing the purple circle into the chevron of the Progress flag. The symbolism of these elements is deeply significant.
- Yellow and Purple: These colors were chosen specifically because they are seen as being free from gender associations. They are an intentional alternative to the pink and blue colors that are so often tied to the male/female gender binary.
- The Unbroken Circle: The purple circle is “unbroken and unornamented,” symbolizing “wholeness and completeness”. It represents the right of every intersex person to make their own decisions about their body and to be whole and complete as they are. This is a powerful statement against the long history of non-consensual and often medically unnecessary surgeries performed on intersex infants to make their bodies conform to binary ideas of male or female.
A Symbol of Complete Human Rights
The inclusion of the intersex symbol was celebrated as a vital step in increasing visibility and understanding for the intersex community, whose struggles for human rights and bodily autonomy are often overlooked, even within the broader LGBTQ+ movement. This addition makes the Pride Flag a more complete symbol of the full spectrum of human diversity.
By incorporating this symbol, the Pride Flag’s message has expanded. It is no longer just about who you love (sexual orientation) or who you are (gender identity), but also about the fundamental right to your own body as it is naturally. This update aligns the flag with the international human rights framework known as SOGIESC, which stands for Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics. It completes the flag’s symbolic journey by directly addressing the biological diversity of human beings, making it a truly comprehensive emblem of pride for all.
Table: The Evolving Symbolism of the Pride Flag
The history of the Pride Flag is one of addition and expansion. The following table provides a clear summary of how the flag’s colors and their meanings have evolved over time, from Gilbert Baker’s original eight-stripe creation to the modern Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag.
| Color / Symbol | Original Flag | 6-Stripe Flag | Philadelphia Flag | Progress Flag | Intersex-Inclusive Flag |
| Hot Pink | Sex | Removed | Removed | Removed | Removed |
| Red | Life | Life | Life | Life | Life |
| Orange | Healing | Healing | Healing | Healing | Healing |
| Yellow | Sunlight | Sunlight | Sunlight | Sunlight | Sunlight |
| Green | Nature | Nature | Nature | Nature | Nature |
| Turquoise | Magic & Art | Removed | Removed | Removed | Removed |
| Indigo/Blue | Serenity | Serenity/Harmony | Serenity/Harmony | Serenity/Harmony | Serenity/Harmony |
| Violet | Spirit | Spirit | Spirit | Spirit | Spirit |
| Brown Stripe | – | – | People of Color | People of Color | People of Color |
| Black Stripe | – | – | People of Color | People of Color / Those impacted by HIV/AIDS | People of Color / Those impacted by HIV/AIDS |
| Light Blue Stripe | – | – | – | Transgender People | Transgender People |
| Pink Stripe | – | – | – | Transgender People | Transgender People |
| White Stripe | – | – | – | Transgender & Non-Binary People | Transgender & Non-Binary People |
| Yellow Triangle | – | – | – | – | Intersex People |
| Purple Circle | – | – | – | – | Intersex Wholeness & Autonomy |
Conclusion: A Living Symbol
The journey of the Pride Flag—from a hand-dyed, eight-color banner in 1978 to the complex, intersectional emblem it is today—is a powerful testament to its role as a living symbol. It is not a static artifact preserved under glass, but a dynamic and responsive emblem that has grown and changed alongside the community it represents. Each modification, from the practical adjustments of its early days to the profound ideological additions of recent years, has been a chapter in the public diary of the LGBTQ+ community’s own evolution.
The flag’s story reflects an ever-deepening understanding of what inclusivity truly means. The additions of the black and brown stripes, the transgender flag colors, and the intersex symbol were not just design updates; they were declarations of principle. They represent a collective commitment to ensuring that the promise of the rainbow—a place for every color, a celebration of all diversity—is a lived reality for every member of the community.
The ongoing conversation about the flag’s design is not a sign of division, but a sign of a healthy and vital movement. It shows a community dedicated to self-reflection, dialogue, and the hard work of leaving no one behind. The ultimate power of the Pride Flag lies not just in the inherent meaning of its colors, but in its remarkable capacity to change, to listen, and to tell a more complete and truthful story over time. It remains a beacon of hope, a symbol of resilience, and a vibrant call for continued progress.