Pride Flags: How well do you know them?
When thinking of “The Pride Flag '', it is most likely that you imagine the 6-colour Pride Flag. However, it is important to acknowledge when using the acronym LGBTQ+ or referring to the “Pride” community, that the community is diverse with many different identities. This means that there are many different flags too.
This blog will introduce you to 9 of these flags, but that is not to say there aren’t more. The full collection can be explored here.
Gilbert Baker Pride Flag
This flag was designed by Gilbert Baker, an artist and an openly gay military veteran. He was also an activist and was tasked by Harvey Milk to create a flag for the queer community, which led him to create this rainbow flag with eight different colours in 1977.
The song "Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard from Oz is said to have inspired this design. Each of the original eight colours was assigned its own symbolism. Hot pink: sex, Red: life, Orange: healing, Yellow: sunlight, Green: nature, Turquoise: magic and art, Indigo: serenity, and Violet: spirit.
6-Colour Pride Flag
When thinking of “The Pride Flag”, this flag is probably the one most people think of. It features the colours red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, and violet. Hot pink wasn't included in the fabrication of these flags, because the fabric was hard to find. After the assassination of gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk in November 1978, the demand for the Pride Flag began to rise. However, the hot pink-coloured fabric was hard to find which reduced the number of colours to 7. In 1979, Gilbert Baker decided to drop the turquoise stripe such that the number of colours was an even number and could be split into two. This resulted in another modification of the flag and eventually became the standard flag for Pride Month and the Pride community.
Philadelphia Pride Flag
The Philadelphia Pride Flag was launched in 2017 as part of the "More Colour More Pride'' Campaign in Philadelphia after a demand for more inclusivity within the LGBTQ+ community. The flag has additional black and brown stripes to the 6-colour pride flag in order to symbolise people of colour who were often excluded from the mainstream gay rights movement.
Transgender Flag
The Transgender Flag was created by US Navy Veteran Monica Helms in 1999 and debuted at Phoenix Pride in 2000. The colours light blue and pink were chosen since they are traditionally associated with baby boys and girls respectively. The white was featured to represent those who are intersex, transitioning or those who don’t identify themselves with any gender. Transgender people identify with a gender identity which differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. According to Amnesty International, it is estimated that 1.5 million transgender people live in the European Union. This flag is essential in representing the community and allowing them to be visible without the fear of being discriminated against.
Nonbinary Flag
The Nonbinary Flag was made in 2014 by Kye Rowan to represent people whose gender identity couldn’t be defined within the margins of gender binary. The flag is designed by the colours: yellow, white, purple, and black, and they each symbolise a different subgroup of people. Yellow represents those who identify outside of the cisgender binary of male or female. A cisgender person is someone whose gender identity is the same as their sex assigned at birth. White represents those who identify as multi-gendered since white is a colour which consists of a mix of all colours. Purple represents those who identify as a mix of male and female genders. Finally, black represents those who are agender i.e. they don’t identify with a gender, since black is an absence of colour.
The usage of gender-neutral pronouns 'they', 'their' and 'them' is most common among the nonbinary community.
Intersex Pride Flag
The Intersex Pride Flag was designed by Morgan Carpenter in 2013. Intersex people are those who are born with sex traits and reproductive anatomy which, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies".
Carpenter moved away from the rainbow colours and chose yellow and purple for the intersex flag since they were considered to be gender neutral colours. The circle with its unbroken and perfect nature, is a reminder of how intersex people are perfect the way they are.
Lesbian Flag
The Lesbian Flag is one of the lesser-known flags. It incorporates different shades of pink to represent the different types of femininity in the lesbian community.
The Progress Pride Flag
The Progress Pride Flag is an evolution from the Philadelphia Pride Flag and was created by Daniel Quaser in order to reflect the evolving nature of the LGBTQ+ community. The Progress Pride Flag incorporates numerous flags into one and places much emphasis on “inclusion and progression”.
The black and brown stripes represent the queer and trans people among those of colour but also represents the thousands of individuals who suffered during the HIV/AIDS crisis in 1980s and 1990s and the overall stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS that persists today.
Straight Ally Flag
The Straight Ally Flag features a rainbow coloured "A" (symbolising "Ally") on a black and white striped background (the colours of the heterosexual flag) to indicate support for the Gay Pride/Equal Marriage movement.
A straight ally or heterosexual ally is a heterosexual who believes that the LGBTQ+ community faces discrimination and therefore advocates gender equality, LGBTQ+ movements and equal civil rights.
Throughout Pride Month, You may have seen some Pride flags you didn’t recognise. I hope this blog has solved any mysteries. However, these are only a sample of the full collection and the collection will continue to evolve and expand. The LGBTQ+ is diverse and we must fully understand the diversity within in order to progress towards inclusivity.
