The blue that replaced the indigo now symbolizes harmony. Baker dropped yet another stripe, which resulted in the six-stripe version of the flag we use most often today-red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. According to Baker's estate, that was because when it was hung vertically from the lamp posts of San Francisco's Market Street, the center stripe (turquoise) was obscured by the similarly-colored lamp post itself. As excerpted on the website for his estate, Gilbert's memoir, Rainbow Warrior, includes his memory of deciding to make the rainbow flag: The trio encouraged Baker to create a positive emblem for the LGBTQIA+ community.īaker agreed and he looked to his community for inspiration, specifically those dancing at San Francisco's music venue Winterland Ballroom one night. In the late '70s, Baker was living in San Francisco when he met writer Cleve Jones, filmmaker Artie Bressan, and rising activist Harvey Milk. The First Rainbow FlagĮnter: Gilbert Baker, the man who would create the first rainbow pride flag. Still, activists recognized the need for a more empowering symbol. "Gay people wear the pink triangle today as a reminder of the past and a pledge that history will not repeat itself," read one 1977 letter to the editor in Time. In the late 1970s, the pink triangle was somewhat reclaimed by the gay community. Throughout the Holocaust, the Nazis forced those whom they labeled as gay to wear inverted pink triangle badges, just as they forced Jewish people to wear a yellow Star of David. This triangle, however, had a loaded, anti-gay history. More Color More Pride from Hello Tierney on Vimeo.Before the rainbow pride flag was created, there was another symbol for the LGBTQIA+ community: a pink triangle. Learn more about Philly’s new version of the Pride flag in the video below: ‘The new design is a symbolic representation of Philadelphia’s commitment to centering the experiences, contributions, activism and dedication of black and brown members of our community,’ Hikes stated. ‘When I see the flag, I feel like I see myself.’ ‘Seeing an image like this flag instills so much pride in me as a queer black woman,’ she said.
This decision comes about six months after the Philadelphia Commission of Human Relations (PCHR) mandated gay bars, clubs, and nonprofits require their employees to complete racial sensitivity training after numerous complaints of race discrimination.įor Amber Hikes, Philadelphia’s director of LGBT affairs, this new version of the flag means a lot. ‘With all of the black and brown activism that’s worked to address racism in the Gayborhood over the past year, I think the new flag is a great step for the city to show the world that they’re working toward fully supporting all members of our community.’ ‘The black and brown stripes are an inclusionary way to highlight black and brown LGBTQIA members within our community,’ one unnamed source told G Philly. But together we can make big strides toward a truly inclusive community,’ the campaign’s website reads. ‘To fuel this important conversation, we’ve expanded the colors of the flag to include black and brown. The city’s new campaign, More Color, More Pride, looks to be more inclusive of LGBTI individuals of color who are often left out of mainstream LGBTI discussion. Red to represent life, orange to represent healing, yellow to represent sunlight, green to represent nature, indigo to represent harmony, and violet to represent spirit.īut Philadelphia is looking to make the flag have eight colorful stripes again – this time with the addition of black and brown. Originally having eight colors, hot pink and turquoise being removed due to the lack of availability of those dyes, the now-famous flag consists of six colors. The iconic rainbow flag was designed by the late Gilbert Baker in 1978.