In a 2018 Los Angeles Times interview, Segerblom recalled, “I wanted to make an American flag that was rainbow because I think it’s for everybody…My idea was just - color.
The origins of the flags’ design are somewhat contested. Segerblom was an artist with skill dyeing fabrics McNamara was a clothing designer with sewing skills and Baker was a seamster and self-described drag queen who often appeared at protests and celebrations in hand-sewn dresses. Aided by friends and volunteers, three members of that committee were central to the first flags’ creation: Lynn Segerblom, James McNamara, and Gilbert Baker. The first rainbow Pride flags were created by the decorations committee of San Francisco’s 1978 Gay Freedom Day Planning Committee. This feature allowed the flag to be claimed as a symbol by a wide range of people - as it has been. O ne of the beauties of the original rainbow Pride flag was that each colored stripe represented an abstract concept, not a specific racial, ethnic, gender, or sexual identity. Pride flag in Pride parade, Chicago, IL (USA). And, on closer analysis, I came to understand them as narrow statements of identity politics that invite the very kinds of division they claim to remedy. Nevertheless, my initial reaction to both new flags was similar: they’re flagrantly disrespectful of an historic symbol of LGBTQ+ people, pride, and community. They respond to real, enduring problems and deserve to be taken seriously and considered on their merits. Unlike the original rainbow Pride flag, Quasar’s flag is not in the public domain.īoth proposals for new pride flags are well-intended: a desire to create an inclusive visual symbol of the diverse LGBTQ+ community and raise awareness of those still marginalized within that community and the wider society. Quasar has since commercialized that design, selling a range of products featuring the Progress flag and licensing it to other manufacturers. Quasar’s design has attracted a lot of buzz and a Kickstarter campaign to mass-produce the new flag raised almost twice as much as the original $14,000 goal. Xe (Quasar uses xe/xem pronouns) said the black stripe also represented, “ those living with AIDS, those no longer living, and the stigma surrounding them….” A PRIDE Flag Reboot.” CC (BY-NC-SA) license. Related: The 15 Best LGBTQ Romance Movies of All Time, Ranked Pride Flag MeaningĮach color on the Pride flag has a specific meaning.Daniel Quasar’s design for “Progress. They were soon mass-produced and flown at Pride events around the country, and the rainbow flag has become a ubiquitous symbol of Pride today. Rainbow flags was first flown at the 1978 “Gay Freedom Day” parade in San Francisco, and they quickly became the most popular symbol of gay pride. Now the rioters who claimed their freedom at the Stonewall Bar in 1969 would have their own symbol of liberation.” 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 earliest recorded history as a symbol of hope,” Baker wrote. “A Rainbow Flag was a conscious choice, natural and necessary. He also considered the powerful symbolic significance of rainbows throughout history. We all felt that we needed something that was positive, that celebrated our love.”īaker thought a rainbow flag would better represent the beautiful diversity of the LGBTQIA+ community. It functioned as a Nazi tool of oppression. “Adolph Hitler conceived the pink triangle during World War II as a stigma placed on homosexuals in the same way the Star of David was used against Jews. However, that symbol “ represented a dark chapter in the history of same-sex rights,” he wrote.
Related: The 21 LGBTQIA+ Flags (and Their Meanings) Up until that point, a pink triangle had symbolized the gay rights movement, Baker explained in his memoir, Rainbow Warrior: My Life In Color.
He came up with the design after prominent gay rights leader Harvey Milk urged him to create a new, positive symbol that the entire LGBTQIA+ community could rally behind. The rainbow Pride flag was designed in 1978 by artist and gay rights activist Gilbert Baker.