The rainbow flag reached a milestone when Baker created a mile-long version of it for the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which was carried during the 2004 New York City Pride Parade and later cut up, with pieces of it used in Pride parades around the world. According to Britannica, “Baker saw the rainbow as a natural flag from the sky, so he adopted eight colors for the stripes, each color with its own meaning (hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit).” The original flag, whose design was completed under Baker’s supervision with the help of thirty volunteers, was first flown at the 1978 Gay Freedom Day Parade in San Francisco, although the pink and turquoise colors were later removed due to the cost of production, resulting in the more commonly seen six-color flag, according to the GLBT Historical Society.
Now the rioters who claimed their freedom at the Stonewall Bar in 1969 would have their own symbol of liberation.”Įach color of the original rainbow flag had a specific meaning to Baker. 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 the earliest recorded history as a symbol of hope. It was like a rainbow…A Rainbow Flag was a conscious choice, natural and necessary. Baker writes of this revelation, “We were all in a swirl of color and light. He hit upon the idea for the rainbow after a night out dancing, observing the colorful and widely varied members of his community, each with their own sense of style and identity. Instead, Baker writes, “We all felt that we needed something that was positive, that celebrated our love.” He had looked at the flags of various countries flying at San Francisco’s Civic Center and wanted the same thing for his community. In his memoir Rainbow Memoir, he writes that his inspiration came in part from wanting to find an alternative to the pink triangle, which had been used by the Nazis in World War II to denote homosexuality and thus had a negative connotation. You’ve seen the rainbow flag (one of many LGBTQ+ pride flags) flying high at Pride parades and outside people’s houses, but how did the rainbow come to be associated with this community? What does the rainbow symbolize? Keep reading to find out.Īrtist Gilbert Baker, who was a gay man and drag queen, is the creator of the original rainbow pride flag, which he designed in 1978 specifically to be a flag for the wide-ranging gay community. With Pride Month almost here, we wanted to explore one of the most iconic symbols of the LGBTQ+ community: the rainbow.