There has been an outpour of support for the LGBTQ community over the last couple of years. Although things are far from perfect, it’s at least good to see that more people are willing to accept our brothers and sisters who chose to live life differently than others.
Aside from the strong and devoted members of the LGBTQ movement, another symbol of the community is the now iconic pride flag. People now recognize the flag and what it stands for, but very few know about its history and its importance for the community.
History Of The Pride Flag
The rainbow flag or the pride flag as we now call it was created by artist, designer, drag performer, and Vietnam War veteran, Gilbert Baker in 1978. The flag was a commission work by gay icon, activist, and politician, Harvey Milk.
The flag was intended to be used for the San Francisco pride parade. Even at the time, this was the biggest pride parade all over the world.
It seems as though the decision to make Baker the creator of the flag was destiny in the making. According to Baker, he had the idea of a flag to represent the gay and lesbian community, two years before he was commissioned to actually create it.
During an interview with the Museum of Modern Art in 2015, the inspiration from the flag draws from America’s bicentennial celebration in 1976. He believed then that it was time for the gay and lesbian community to have a symbol to rally to and to call their own.
Another reason why Baker wanted to make a new flag was that at the time, the gay rights movement had the pink triangle as their symbol. However, it was a symbol that the Nazis used to identify homosexuals. For Baker, it was time to move away from the dark past of the community.
The different colors in the flag represent togetherness because people from the community came from various races, ages, and genders. Moreover, rainbows are also natural and beautiful, much like the people within the community itself.
Although the flag has been around since 1978, it has been through a few revisions. The printable pride flag and all other pride items wouldn’t be what they are today without those revisions. The very first version was unveiled on June 25, 1978.
The original colors of the flag were eight, and each represented something. Hot pink represented sex, red represented life, orange meant healing, yellow meant sunlight, green meant nature, turquoise represented art, indigo meant harmony, at the very bottom was violet which meant spirit.
Due to production issues, the pink and turquoise stripes were removed from the flag. Indigo was also replaced with the basic blue color. This resulted in the six-striped flag which had red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. This is the most common variant of the flag.
Although it has been around for years since its inception, the pride flag wasn’t fully established as the symbol of the community until 1994. In that year, Baker himself made a mile-long version of the flag in remembrance of the Stonewall riots.
Why Is It Important?
For many, the pride flag is but a simple flag. For the LGBT community, however, it stands as their symbol and as their spirit to be fully accepted into society. Without a flag to represent them, it would be harder to get the point across. Thanks to it, the community was able to easily showcase its undying will.
To this day, the pride flag stands strong as the symbol of the community. Now, people don’t just see a selection of colors on a flag. They see what the flag stands for, which is not just the LGBT community, but also togetherness and unity amidst diversity. It will probably stay that way for decades to come.
The colors are now seen not just in flags, but also in t-shirts, company logos, and many others. It’s a testament to how far the colors have brought the LGBTQ community.
Perhaps most importantly, however, the pride flag became a symbol of the fight that people like Harvey Milk, Gilbert Baker, and many others have been pushing for across the past decades.
If you are a part of the LGBT community, the pride flag is a great way to showcase your support and unity with the movement. Even if you aren’t a part of the community, you can use the flag in support of your friends and family who are a part of the movement.
