I realized I would have to make some compromises in order for this to really function as a symbol."Ĭloseted gay people have also historically used bright colors to signal their homosexuality to each other, as Forrest Wickman wrote in Slate. Oscar Wilde wore a green carnation, and yellow served the same purpose in Australia, and purple provided that function in some communities in the United States. During the Holocaust, Nazis forced gay men to wear pink triangles as a symbol of sexual deviance. The rainbow flag was a way of taking these various colors and turning them into a coherent symbol, reclaimed by the LGBT community.
"It was necessary to have the Rainbow Flag because up until that we had the pink triangle from the Nazis - it was the symbol that they would use. It came from such a horrible place of murder and holocaust and Hitler. The rainbow is so perfect because it really fits our diversity in terms of race, gender, ages, all of those things." We needed something beautiful, something from us.
The rainbow also has some pop culture significance for the LGBT community. Judy Garland, the star of "The Wizard of Oz," has a large following as a gay symbol, and is famous for singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" in the movie. The White House illuminated in rainbow colors after 2015's Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage. The flag has been modified in different places at different times. One version unfurled in Philadelphia this year added black and brown, for racial inclusivity. In 2001, one version added a black stripe for AIDs awareness.Īside from LGBT pride, rainbow flags have other historic and political meanings that persist today. In Italy, it's used as a symbol of peace, often with the word "PACE" written in white across the flag's stripes. The Jewish Autonomous Oblast based in Birobidzhan, a sort of satellite government of Russia located on the Chinese border in Birobidzhan, uses a rainbow flag as its own symbol.
And in Peru and Bolivia, the rainbow "Flag of Cusco" is a symbol of the indigenous Inca people. The LGBT pride version of the flag designed by Gilbert Baker has become the most famous of the rainbow flags. Designed for one parade in 1978, it's now one of the most recognized symbols in the world.The rainbow flag is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender ( LGBT) and queer pride and LGBT social movements. Also known as the gay pride flag or LGBT pride flag, the colors reflect the diversity of the LGBT community and the spectrum of human sexuality and gender. Using a rainbow flag as a symbol of gay pride began in San Francisco, but eventually became common at LGBT rights events worldwide. Originally devised by artist Gilbert Baker, the design has undergone several revisions since its debut in 1978, first to remove colors then restore them based on availability of fabrics. Baker's first rainbow flag had eight colors, though the most common variant consists of six stripes: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. The flag is typically flown horizontally, with the red stripe on top, as it would be in a natural rainbow. LGBT individuals and allies currently use rainbow flags and many rainbow-themed items and color schemes as an outward symbol of their identity or support. In addition to the rainbow, many other flags and symbols are used to communicate specific identities within the LGBT community. Six-color version popular since 1979, with royal blue replacing both turquoise and indigo. Gilbert Baker, born in 1951 and raised in Parsons, Kansas, had served in the US Army between 19. After an honorable discharge, Baker taught himself to sew. In 1974, Baker met Harvey Milk, an influential gay leader, who later challenged Baker to devise a symbol of pride for the gay community. The original gay pride flags flew at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade celebration on June 25, 1978.