Rainbow flag (LGBTQ)
The rainbow flag or pride flag is a symbol of LGBTQ pride and LGBTQ social movements, as well as a peace symbol. The colors reflect the diversity of the LGBTQ community and the spectrum of human sexuality and gender. Using a rainbow flag as a symbol of LGBTQ pride began in San Francisco, California and subsequently became common at LGBTQ rights events worldwide.
Originally devised by the artists Gilbert Baker, Lynn Segerblom, James McNamara and other activists, the design underwent several revisions after its debut in 1978, and continues to inspire variations. Although Baker's original rainbow flag had eight colors, from 1979 to the present day the most common variant consists of six stripes: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. The flag is typically displayed horizontally, with the red stripe on top, as it would be in a natural rainbow.
LGBTQ people and allies currently use rainbow flags and many rainbow-themed items and color schemes as an outward symbol of their identity or support. There are derivations of the rainbow flag that are used to focus attention on specific causes or groups within the community. In addition to the rainbow, many other flags and symbols are used to communicate specific identities within the LGBTQ community.
History
Origin
was an American artist and activist known for designing the rainbow flag. Born in 1951 in Parsons, Kansas, Baker served in the United States Army from 1970 to 1972. After his discharge, he learned to sew and became involved in the gay rights movement in San Francisco.Influenced by his friend and gay rights activist, Harvey Milk, Baker adopted Milk’s call for openness and truth among gay people. He saw the flag as a direct way to express presence and identity. At the urging of filmmaker Arthur J. Bressan Jr., Baker created the rainbow flag to serve as a symbol for the movement.
The first flags appeared on June 25, 1978, during the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade celebration.
According to a profile published in the Bay Area Reporter in 1985, Baker "chose the rainbow motif because of its associations with the hippie movement of the Sixties but he notes that the use of the design dates all the way back to ancient Egypt". People have speculated that Baker was inspired by the Judy Garland song "Over the Rainbow", but when asked, Baker said that it was "more about the Rolling Stones and their song 'She's a Rainbow. Baker was likely influenced by the "Brotherhood Flag" popular among the world peace movement and hippie movement of the 1960s.
The first rainbow flags commissioned by the fledgling pride committee were produced by a team that included artist Lynn Segerblom. Segerblom was then known as Faerie Argyle Rainbow; according to her, she created the original dyeing process for the flags. Thirty volunteers hand-dyed and stitched the first two flags for the parade. The original flag design had eight stripes, with a specific meaning assigned to each of the colors:
The two flags originally created for the 1978 parade were believed lost for over four decades, until a remnant of one was discovered among Baker's belongings in 2020.
1978 to 1979
After the assassination of gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk on November 27, 1978, demand for the rainbow flag greatly increased. In response, the San Francisco-based Paramount Flag Company began selling a version using stock rainbow fabric with seven stripes: red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, and violet. As Baker ramped up production of his version of the flag, he too dropped the hot pink stripe because fabric in that color was not readily available. The Paramount Flag Company also began selling a surplus stock of Rainbow Girls flags from its retail store on the southwest corner of Polk and Post, at which Gilbert Baker was an employee.In 1979, the flag was modified again. Aiming to decorate the street lamps along the parade route with hundreds of rainbow banners, Baker decided to split the motif in two with an even number of stripes flanking each lamp pole. To achieve this effect, he dropped the turquoise stripe that had been used in the seven-stripe flag. The result was the six-stripe version of the flag that would become the standard for future production—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.
1980s to 2000s
In 1989, the rainbow flag came to further nationwide attention in the U.S. after John Stout sued his landlords and won when they attempted to prohibit him from displaying the flag from his West Hollywood, California, apartment balcony.In 2000, the University of Hawaii at Manoa changed its sports teams' name from "Rainbow Warriors" to "Warriors" and redesigned its logo to eliminate a rainbow from it. Athletic director Hugh Yoshida initially said that the change was to distance the school's athletic program from homosexuality. When this drew criticism, Yoshida then said the change was merely to avoid brand confusion. The school then allowed each team to select its own name, leading to a mix including "Rainbow Warriors", "Warriors", "Rainbows" and "Rainbow Wahine". This decision was reversed in February 2013, by athletic director Ben Jay, dictating that all men's athletic teams be nicknamed "Warriors" and all women's teams "Rainbow Warriors". In May 2013, all teams were once again called "Rainbow Warriors" regardless of sex.
In 2004 several gay businesses in London were ordered by Westminster City Council to remove the rainbow flag from their premises, as its display required planning permission. When one shop applied for permission, the Planning sub-committee refused the application on the chair's casting vote, a decision condemned by gay councillors in Westminster and the then-Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. In November the council announced a reversal of policy, stating that most shops and bars would be allowed to fly the rainbow flag without planning permission.
In June 2004 LGBTQ activists sailed to Australia's uninhabited Coral Sea Islands Territory and raised the rainbow flag, proclaiming the territory independent of Australia, calling it the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands in protest to the Australian government's refusal to recognize same-sex marriages. The rainbow flag was the official flag of the claimed kingdom until its dissolution in 2017 following the legalisation of same sex marriage in Australia.
2010s to present
In June 2015, The Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan added the rainbow flag symbol to its design collection. The flag was also included in MoMA's Pirouette: Turning Points in Design, a 2025 exhibition which featured "widely recognized design icons highlighting pivotal moments in design history."On June 26, 2015, the White House was illuminated in the rainbow flag colors to commemorate the legalization of same-sex marriages in all 50 U.S. states, following the Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court decision.
An emoji version of the flag was formally proposed in July 2016, and released that November.
A portion of one of the original 1978 rainbow flags was donated to the GLBT Historical Society Museum and Archives in San Francisco in April 2021; the section is the only known surviving remnant of the two inaugural eight-color rainbow flags.
Polish nationalists trampled, spat on, and burned the rainbow flag during Independence Day marches in Warsaw in the 2020s. In one case a mob burned down a residential building because it was flying a rainbow flag and had a Women's Strike sign.
In Norway, the flag is reported to symbolize diversity, unity and inclusion, in addition to freedom to be whoever one wants to be and to love whoever one wants to love.
Transnationalism
The rainbow flag has been repurposed to manifest a multitude of transnational and globalized ways of being queer. In a few scholarly articles, the rainbow flag is described as a "floating signifier". A floating signifier refers to the person giving the object its interpreted meaning and significance. Flags are ambivalent symbols that hold different ideologies, meanings, and agendas depending on the beholder. Therefore, the rainbow flag is a boundary object that not only brings together queer communities locally and transnationally, but can also create debates and conflicts.In March 2016, rainbow stamps were created by a postal service common to Sweden and Denmark celebrating pride traversing borders internationally. It has become common to display a rainbow in store fronts or on websites to indicate that the space is queer-friendly. Many government official buildings in different countries in Europe and America display the rainbow flag.
In some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, it is illegal to sell "rainbow-coloured" items, as it "indirectly promotes homosexuality" and claims to "contradict normal common sense". The motives have aroused international criticism.
Coded flags
Coded or hidden flags have been made using colors of the rainbow to support LGBTQ rights and express political views. In 2018, Russia hosted the FIFA World Cup, which partially coincided with Pride Month. Because Russian legislation bans the display of LGBTQ symbols, Spanish LGBTQ rights group FELGTB and Spanish creative agency LOLA Mullenlowe conceived a plan for six activists from six different countries to wear a team jersey from their country during the tournament. The colors of the six jerseys corresponded to the colors of the rainbow flag. They travelled around Russia together, positioned so that their jerseys formed a rainbow that was visible to the public but seemingly inconspicuous to authorities. Pictures of the group standing together in front of famous Russian buildings and next to police officers circulated online. This action was intended, in part, to raise awareness about Russia's anti-LGBTQ laws.In Poland on August 6, 2020, President Andrzej Duda was sworn in for a second term supporting an anti-LGBTQ campaign and the opposing politicians planned to coordinate and wear a colored outfit to each represent a color of the rainbow to stand in protest.