Gay colors and symbols
Flags of the LGBTIQ Community
Flags have always been an integral part of the LGBTIQ+ movement. They are a noticeable representation meant to rejoice progress, advocate for voice, and amplify the ask for and drive for collective action. There have been many LGBTIQ+ flags over the years. Some own evolved, while others are constantly being conceptualized and created.
Rainbow Flag
Created in by Gilbert Baker, the iconic Pride Rainbow flag originally had eight stripes. The colors included pink to represent sexuality, red for healing, yellow for heat, green for serenity with nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit. In the years since, the flag now has six colors. It no longer has a pink stripe, and the turquoise and indigo stripes were replaced with royal blue.
Progress Event Flag
Created in by nonbinary artist Daniel Quasar, the Progress Pride flag is based on the iconic rainbow flag. With stripes of black and brown to represent marginalized LGBTIQ+ people of dye and the triad of blue, pink, and light from the trans flag, the design represents diversity and inclusion.
Trans Flag
Conceived by Monica Helms, an openly transge
Here’s What the Different LGBTQIA+ Flags Represent
LGBTQIA+
When we reflect of Pride Month, the first image that typically comes to mind is the classic rainbow flag. However, many people don’t realize that along with the Rainbow Pride Flag, there are an array of different identifiers that represent the diverse gay community. While many in the LGBTQIA+ community recognize with the all-encompassing rainbow flag, each group has its own flag to represent its unique contributions and stories within the community. Here’s a rundown of the different flags and what they represent.
The Gilbert Baker Pride Flag
The original rainbow pride flag was designed by Gilbert Baker in at the request of Harvey Milk, the first openly queer elected official in California. Gilbert chose the rainbow as it represents a symbol of hope.
Original flag colors and meaning:
Pink: sex; Red: life; Orange: healing; Yellow: sunlight; Green: nature; Turquoise: magic; Blue: harmony; Violet: spirit.
Rainbow Pride Flag
This is the iteration of the Pride Flag that we all know today, used to symbolize the overall LGBTQIA+ community. In this version, the pink and turquoise were excluded
EIU Center For Gender and Sexual Diversity
Symbols within the GSD Community
Rainbow Flag
The rainbow flag has become the easily-recognized colors of identity festival for the gay people. The rainbow plays a part in many myths and stories related to gender and sexuality issues in Greek, Aboriginal, African, and other cultures. Exploit of the rainbow flag by the gay group began in when it first appeared in the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Pride. Borrowing symbolism from the hippie movement and jet civil rights groups, San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker designed the rainbow flag in response to a need for a symbol that could be used year after year. The flag has six stripes, each color representing a component of the community: red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sun, green for character, royal blue for agreement, and violet for spirit.
The rainbow flag has inspired a wide variety of related symbols and accessories, such as freedom rings. There are plenty of variations of the flag, including versions with superimposed lambdas, pink triangles, or other symbols. Some recent flags have added a brown and black stripe as a reminder of how important the intersectionality
The Progress Pride flag was developed in by agender American artist and architect Daniel Quasar (who uses xe/xyr pronouns). Based on the iconic rainbow flag from , the redesign celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQ community and calls for a more inclusive society. In , the V&A acquired a bespoke applique version of the Progress Pride flag that can be seen on display in the Design – Now gallery.
'Progress' is a reinterpretation of multiple iterations of the pride flag. The authentic 'rainbow flag' was created by Gilbert Baker in to celebrate members of the gay and homosexual woman political movement. It comprised eight coloured stripes stacked on top of each other to evoke a rainbow, a symbol of hope. Baker assigned a specific meaning to each colour: pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for essence, turquoise for magic, indigo for serenity and violet for spirit. A year later the pink and turquoise stripes were dropped owing to a shortage of pink fabric at the time and legibility concerns, resulting in the six-colour rainbow flag most commonly used in the first decades of the 21st century.
Baker's flag was embraced internationally a
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