From embellishing bright, glossy pins and stickers to billowing gently above town halls and universities, the multicolored pride flag stands emblematic of support and acknowledgment for the LGBTQ+ movement. But in our day-to-day lives, rainbows symbolize everything from hope to new beginnings to promises of positive fulfillment. How did such a vividly ubiquitous token come to empower one of the biggest civil rights movements in the world?
Sparks of the Stonewall Riots
The origin of the flag dates back to the 1970s—a decade of immense gay rights activism that followed landmark events from the 60s. Notably, three days from today will mark the 53rd anniversary of the Stonewall Inn uprising. Police forces stormed Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, on the morning of June 28, 1969, and their aggressive actions rapidly escalated patrons into a full-blown riot. While gay bars at this time were no stranger to aggressive police interference, Stonewall’s uniqueness lies in the patron response of resistance, which breathed new life into the gay rights movement and revealed the power to change the social norm using collective resistance.
Founded in Chicago by Henry Gerber in December of 1924, The Society for Human Rights is the oldest documented gay rights organization in the United States.
Even as Stonewall was more so a catalyst for, rather than the beginnings of, the LGBTQ+ movement, it did spark tremendous, newfound awareness and support for organization-based activism. Thousands gathered for the uprising’s one-year anniversary, marching through the site of the riot as part of the 1970 Christopher Street Gay Liberation parade. Similar marches arose in Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, and with the pride movement reaching global theatres of London, Paris, and more the very next year, the sweeping force of gay rights was undeniably coming to its contemporary fruition.
Two years later, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its list of mental disorders, marking yet another win for the LGBTQ+ movement.
A Powerful Reclamation
The 1930s was a dark decade for the queer community, with an estimated 100,000 LGBTQ+ individuals arrested amidst World War II as part of Nazi Germany’s “purification” campaign. Gay men forced into concentration camps were mandated to identify their “degenerative trait” of homosexuality with large pink triangles on their uniforms.
The Men with the Pink Triangle, written by Heinz Heger and published in 1972, was the first autobiography that followed the harrowing life of a gay Nazi concentration camp survivor.
A year after Heger’s publication, Homosexuelle Aktion Westberlin (HAW), Germany’s first gay rights organization, reclaimed the pink triangle and effectively took what was once a dark symbol steeped in abuse and death and transformed it into one of liberation and hope for a changed future.
While the pink triangle may not be as well known as the rainbow flag, its history reminds us to never forget the past and to recognize the continued—albeit to a lesser extent—hostility towards those who choose to identify themselves differently than the supposed “norm.”
The “Gay Betsy Ross”
Gilbert Baker, a Kansas-born, openly gay man, once said that “Flags are torn from the soul of the people.” And fittingly so, considering the pride movement largely regards him to be the creator of the movement’s iconic 8-color flag.
Many consider Baker the “gay Betsy Ross” for his contribution to the pride community in reference to Betsy Ross being the original creator of the American Flag.
In Baker’s original pride flag: hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for the sun, green for nature, blue for art, indigo for harmony, violet for spirit
Baker used his flag-making skills early on to sew banners for marches of both gay-rights and anti-war protests (the Vietnam War persisted through the 1970s). On June, 25 1978, he and a team debuted the first rainbow flag for the LGBTQ+ community, adding brilliant splashes of color to the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day parade at which it was proudly flown.
“This was their flag. It belonged to all of us. It was the most thrilling moment of my life,” Baker said upon seeing his creation waving in the sky for the first time. “I knew right then that this was the most important thing I would ever do—that my whole life was going to be about the Rainbow Flag.”
Today, June 25, 2022, marks the 44th anniversary of when the first pride flags were flown in San Francisco’s United Nations Plaza. Each measured 60 ft by 30 ft.
Baker would continue his artistry in what could be considered the most colorful legacy ever left by an individual. While his portfolio included designs of various other flags from symphonies to countries to even Super Bowls, many behold his 1.25-mile long rainbow flag, unfurled in Key West, Florida in 2003, to be perhaps his most impressive work.
This 1.25-mile masterpiece, set on display in Florida’s Duval Street, commemorated the 25th anniversary of Baker’s Rainbow. It is often believed to be the world’s longest pride flag, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico!
A Long-Lasting Legacy
To celebrate Obergefell v Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage in the United States in 2015, the White House was lit aglow with rainbow colors. The case was finalized on June 26, adding to the calendar significance of June and its designation as pride month.
The pride movement most certainly does not limit itself to just Baker’s original 8-striped rainbow rendition, and in fact, the most common flags today have six colors (from top to bottom: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet). Specific identities have taken to their own distinct flags as well, such as the red, orange, white, and pink shades of the lesbian flag, and the pansexual flag’s neon pink, yellow, and blue.
In 2018, Daniel Quasar redesigned the six-color flag to include a black, brown, blue, pink, and white chevron that entered from the left. Dubbed the “Quasar Progress” variant to celebrate the pride movement’s efforts to diversify, the white, blue, and pink stands for the transgender colors, while the black and brown acknowledges queer people of color and those with AIDS.
Taking from its name, Quasar’s redesign is a testament to the pride movement’s willingness to adapt to forever changing times. And as proven many times in history, rejecting tradition and convention is often the only way to progress to a more diverse and accepting society. Considering a history riddled with oppression and persecution—in addition to how the LGBTQ+ community continues to face discrimination and prejudice even in the modern day, Quasar’s approach fosters a progressive mindset that just might be worthwhile of adopting for the rest of us.
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