Pride flag explained

A pride flag is any flag that represents a segment or part of the LGBT community. Pride in this case refers to the notion of LGBT pride. The terms LGBT flag and queer flag are often used interchangeably.[1]

Pride flags can represent various sexual orientations, romantic orientations, gender identities, subcultures, and regional purposes, as well as the LGBT community as a whole. There are also some pride flags that are not exclusively related to LGBT matters, such as the flag for leather subculture. The rainbow flag, which represents the entire LGBT community, is the most widely used pride flag.

Numerous communities have embraced distinct flags, with a majority drawing inspiration from the rainbow flag. These flags are often created by amateur designers and later gain traction online or within affiliated organizations, ultimately attaining a semi-official status as a symbolic representation of the community. Typically, these flags incorporate a range of colors that symbolize different aspects of the associated communities.

Notable examples

Rainbow

See main article: Rainbow flag (LGBT).

Gilbert Baker designed the rainbow pride flag for the 1978 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day celebration.[2] The flag was designed as a "symbol of hope" and liberation, and an alternative to the symbolism of the pink triangle.[3] The flag does not depict an actual rainbow. Rather, the colors of the rainbow are displayed as horizontal stripes, with red at the top and violet at the bottom. It represents the diversity of gays and lesbians around the world. In the original eight-color version, pink stood for sexuality, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for the sun, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit.[4] A copy of the original 20-by-30 foot, eight-color flag was made by Baker in 2000 and was installed in the Castro district in San Francisco.[5] Many variations on the rainbow flag exist, including ones incorporating other LGBT symbols like the triangle or lambda.[6] In 2018, designer Daniel Quasar created a modified version of the rainbow pride flag, incorporating elements of other flags to bring focus on inclusion and progress. This flag is known as the Progress Pride Flag. In 2021, Valentino Vecchietti of Intersex Equality Rights UK redesigned the Progress Pride Flag to incorporate the intersex flag.[7] [8]

Aromanticism

See main article: Aromantic flag.

The aromantic pride flag consists of five horizontal stripes, which are (from top to bottom) green, light green, white, gray, and black. The flag was created by Cameron Whimsy in 2014. The green and light green stripes represent aromanticism and the aro-spectrum. The white stripe represents the importance and validity of non-romantic forms of love, which include friendship, platonic and aesthetic attraction, queerplatonic relationships, and family. The black and gray stripes represent the sexuality spectrum, which ranges from aro-aces (aromantic asexuals) to aromantic allosexuals.[9] [10]

Asexuality

See main article: article and Asexual flag.

The asexual pride flag consists of four horizontal stripes: black, gray, white, and purple from top to bottom.[11] [12] The flag was created by an Asexual Visibility and Education Network user standup in August 2010, as part of a community effort to create and choose a flag.[13] [14] The black stripe represents asexuality; the gray stripe represents gray-asexuals and demisexuals; the white stripe represents allies; and the purple stripe represents community.[15] [16]

Bisexuality

See main article: Bisexual flag.

Introduced on December 5, 1998,[17] the bisexual pride flag was designed by activist Michael Page to represent and increase the visibility of bisexual people in the LGBT community and society as a whole. Page chose a combination of Pantone Matching System (PMS) colors magenta (pink), lavender (purple), and royal (blue). The finished rectangular flag consists of a broad pink stripe at the top, a broad stripe in blue at the bottom, and a narrow purple stripe in the center.

Page described the meaning of the colors as, "The pink color represents sexual attraction to the same sex only (gay and lesbian), the blue represents sexual attraction to the opposite sex only (straight) and the resultant overlap color purple represents sexual attraction to both sexes (bi)." He also described the flag's meaning in deeper terms, stating "The key to understanding the symbolism in the Bi Pride Flag is to know that the purple pixels of color blend unnoticeably into both the pink and blue, just as in the 'real world' where bi people blend unnoticeably into both the gay/lesbian and straight communities."[18]

Page stated that he took the colors and overlap for the flag from the biangles symbol of bisexuality.[19] [20] The blue and pink overlapping triangle symbol is the biangles symbol of bisexuality, and was designed by artist Liz Nania as she co-organized a bisexual contingent for the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights in 1987.[20] [21] The design of the biangles began with the pink triangle, a Nazi concentration camp badge that later became a symbol of gay liberation representing homosexuality. The addition of a blue triangle contrasts the pink and represents heterosexuality. The two triangles overlap and form lavender, which represents the "queerness of bisexuality", referencing the Lavender Menace and 1980s and 1990s associations of lavender with queerness.[22]

Gay men

See main article: Gay men's flags. Various pride flags have been used to symbolize gay men. Rainbow flags have been used since 1978 to represent both gay men and, subsequently, the LGBT community as a whole. Since the 2010s, various designs have been proposed to specifically represent the gay male community.

Intersex

See main article: Intersex flag.

The intersex flag was created by Morgan Carpenter of Intersex Human Rights Australia in July 2013 to create a flag "that is not derivative, but is yet firmly grounded in meaning". The organization describes the circle as "unbroken and unornamented, symbolising wholeness and completeness, and our potentialities. We are still fighting for bodily autonomy and genital integrity, and this symbolises the right to be who and how we want to be".[23] [24] [25]

Lesbian

See main article: Lesbian flags.

No single design for a lesbian-pride flag has been widely adopted.[26] However, many popular ones exist.

The labrys lesbian flag was created in 1999 by graphic designer Sean Campbell, and published in June 2000 in the Palm Springs edition of the Gay and Lesbian Times Pride issue.[27] The design involves a labrys, a type of double-headed axe, superimposed on the inverted black triangle, set against a violet background. Among its functions, the labrys was associated as a weapon used by the Amazons of mythology.[28] [29] In the 1970s it was adopted as a symbol of empowerment by the lesbian feminist community.[30] Women considered asocial by Nazi Germany for not conforming to the Nazi ideal of a woman, which included homosexual females, were condemned to concentration camps[31] and wore an inverted black triangle badge to identify them.[32] Some lesbians reclaimed this symbol as gay men reclaimed the pink triangle (many lesbians also reclaimed the pink triangle although lesbians were not included in Paragraph 175 of the German criminal code). The color violet became associated with lesbians via the poetry of Sappho.[33]

The lipstick lesbian flag was introduced by Natalie McCray in 2010 in the weblog This Lesbian Life.[34] [35] The design contains a red kiss in the left corner, superimposed on seven stripes consisting of six shades of red and pink colors and a white bar in the center.[36] [37] The lipstick lesbian flag represents "homosexual women who have a more feminine gender expression",[38] but has not been widely adopted. Some lesbians are against it because it does not include butch lesbians, while others have accused McCray of writing biphobic, racist, and transphobic comments on her blog.[39]

The "pink" lesbian flag was derived from the lipstick lesbian flag but with the kiss mark removed. The pink flag attracted more use as a general lesbian pride flag.[40]

The "orange-pink" lesbian flag, modeled after the seven-band pink flag, was introduced on Tumblr by blogger Emily Gwen in 2018.[41] [42] The colors include dark orange for "gender non-conformity", orange for "independence", light orange for "community", white for "unique relationships to womanhood", pink for "serenity and peace", dusty pink for "love and sex", and dark rose for "femininity". A five-stripes version was soon derived from the 2018 colors.[43]

Gallery of lesbian pride flags

Non-binary

See main article: Non-binary flag.

The non-binary pride flag was created in 2014 by Kye Rowan.[44] Each stripe color represents different types of non-binary identities: yellow for people who identify outside of the gender binary, white for non-binary people with multiple genders, purple for those with a mixture of both male and female genders, and black for agender individuals.[45]

Pansexuality

See main article: Pansexual flag.

The pansexual pride flag was introduced in October 2010 in a Tumblr blog ("Pansexual Pride Flag").[46] [47] It has three horizontal bars that are pink, yellow and blue.[48] [49] "The pink represents being attracted to women, the blue being attracted to men, and the yellow for being attracted to everyone else"; such as non-binary gender identities.[50] [51]

Transgender

See main article: Transgender flag.

The transgender pride flag was designed by transgender woman Monica Helms in 1999.[52] It was first publicly displayed at a pride parade in Phoenix, Arizona, US, in 2000.[53] It was flown from a large public flagpole in San Francisco's Castro District beginning November 19, 2012, in commemoration of the Transgender Day of Remembrance. The flag represents the transgender community and consists of five horizontal stripes: two light blue, two pink, with a white stripe in the center. Helms described the meaning of the flag as follows:[54]

Philadelphia became the first county government in the United States to raise the transgender pride flag in 2015. It was raised at City Hall in honor of Philadelphia's 14th Annual Trans Health Conference, and remained next to the US and City of Philadelphia flags for the entirety of the conference. Then-Mayor Michael Nutter gave a speech in honor of the trans community's acceptance in Philadelphia.[55]

Gallery

Location-based flags

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sobel . Ariel . June 13, 2018 . The Complete Guide to Queer Pride Flags . January 6, 2019 . . February 9, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190209123954/https://www.advocate.com/pride/2018/6/13/complete-guide-queer-pride-flags . live.
  2. Web site: June 17, 2021 . Original 1978 rainbow flag designed by Gilbert Baker acquired by San Francisco's GLBT Historical Society . December 7, 2022 . The Art Newspaper - International art news and events . December 7, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221207133237/https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2021/06/17/original-1978-rainbow-flag-designed-by-gilbert-baker-acquired-by-san-franciscos-glbt-historical-society . live.
  3. Web site: 2018 . Rainbow Flag: Origin Story . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20180618200034/https://gilbertbaker.com/rainbow-flag-origin-story/ . June 18, 2018 . Gilbert Baker Foundation.
  4. Web site: April 26, 2005 . Symbols of Pride of the LGBTQ Community . https://web.archive.org/web/20120210045929/http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/gsc/students/ally/lgbtsymbols/ . February 10, 2012 . January 23, 2012 . Carleton College.
  5. Rochman . Sue . June 20, 2000 . Rainbow flap. . 16 . August 21, 2018.
  6. Web site: Riffenburg . Charles Edward IV . 2004 . Symbols of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Movements . July 25, 2019 . Queer Resources Directory . July 22, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190722060109/http://www.qrd.org/qrd/www/orgs/avproject/symbols.htm . live.
  7. Web site: Parsons. Vic. June 7, 2021. Progress Pride flag gets 2021 redesign to better represent intersex people. June 10, 2021. PinkNews.
  8. Web site: Alao. Lola Christina. India. Lawrence. June 12, 2023. The trans and intersex-inclusive Pride flags will fly on Regent Street again soon. Time Out.
  9. Web site: Gillespie . Claire . 22 Different Pride Flags and What They Represent in the LGBTQ+ Community . July 19, 2020 . Health.com . July 19, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200719233822/https://www.health.com/mind-body/different-pride-flags-what-they-represent . live.
  10. Web site: Queer Community Flags . March 11, 2023 . April 4, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230404191338/https://www.queerevents.ca/queer-corner/blog/queer-community-flags . live.
  11. Book: Bilić . Bojan . Intersectionality and LGBT Activist Politics: Multiple Others in Croatia and Serbia . Kajinić . Sanja . 2016 . Springer . 95–96.
  12. Book: Decker . Julie . The Invisible Orientation: An Introduction to Asexuality . Skyhorse.
  13. Web site: February 20, 2012 . The Asexuality Flag . Asexuality Archive . September 26, 2021 . September 17, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210917010329/https://www.asexualityarchive.com/the-asexuality-flag/ . live.
  14. Book: Ace and Aro Journeys . . 2023 . 44–45 . Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
  15. Web site: Petronzio . Matt . June 13, 2014 . A Storied Glossary of Iconic LGBT Flags and Symbols (Gallery) . July 17, 2014 . . April 3, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190403014428/https://mashable.com/2014/06/13/lgbt-pride-symbols/#co._PVJ5mgqY . live.
  16. Web site: Sobel . Ariel . June 13, 2018 . The Complete Guide to Queer Pride Flags . June 28, 2018 . . June 28, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180628185105/https://www.advocate.com/pride/2018/6/13/complete-guide-queer-pride-flags#media-gallery-media-8 . live.
  17. Web site: Page . Michael . 2001 . History of the Bi Pride Flag . https://web.archive.org/web/20010801185547/http://www.biflag.com/Activism.asp . August 1, 2001 . January 23, 2012 . BiFlag.com.
  18. Web site: November 9, 2021 . What Exactly Is The Bisexual Pride Flag, And What Does It Mean? . December 7, 2022 . en . December 7, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221207131303/https://queerintheworld.com/bisexual-pride-flag/ . live.
  19. Web site: 1998-12-05 . History, Bi Activism, Free Graphics . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20010801185547/http://biflag.com/Activism.asp . 2001-08-01 . 2020-04-20 . BiFlag.com.
  20. Web site: Biangles, bisexual symbol, bi colors, bi history. Liz Nania.
  21. Web site: Jordahn . Sebastian . Queer x Design highlights 50 years of LGBT+ graphic design . . 2019-10-23 . 2021-06-12.
  22. Web site: Biangles, bisexual symbol, bi colors, bi history — Liz Nania . 2022-06-26 . Liz Nania . en-US.
  23. Web site: Carpenter . Morgan . July 5, 2013 . An intersex flag . February 17, 2021 . . July 9, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180709150738/https://ihra.org.au/22773/an-intersex-flag/ . live.
  24. Web site: Yu . Ming . July 11, 2013 . Are you male, female or intersex?. https://web.archive.org/web/20160923072805/http://www.amnesty.org.au/features/comments/32251 . September 23, 2016 . February 17, 2021 . Amnesty International.
  25. Web site: Busby . Cec . October 28, 2013 . Intersex advocates address findings of Senate Committee into involuntary sterilisation . https://web.archive.org/web/20160115130147/http://gaynewsnetwork.com.au/news/intersex-advocates-address-findings-of-senate-committee-into-involuntary-sterilisation-12237.html . January 15, 2016 . January 15, 2016 . Gay News Network.
  26. News: Bendix . Trish . September 8, 2015 . Why don't lesbians have a pride flag of our own?. https://web.archive.org/web/20150909150736/https://www.afterellen.com/people/452039-dont-lesbians-pride-flag . September 9, 2015 . June 8, 2019 . AfterEllen.
  27. Web site: A Complete Guide To All The LGBTQ+ Flags & What They Mean . June 19, 2019 . July 6, 2019 . . Kasandra . Brabaw . March 12, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210312065228/https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/lgbt-pride-flags-meaning . live.
  28. Book: The Alyson Almanac: A Treasury of Information for the Gay and Lesbian Community . 1989 . . Boston, Massachusetts . Gay Symbols Through the Ages . 99–100 . 0-932870-19-8.
  29. Book: Murphy . Timothy F. . Reader's Guide to Lesbian and Gay Studies . 2000 . 1st . 44 . . Chicago, Illinois . 1-57958-142-0.
  30. Book: Zimmerman . Bonnie . Bonnie Zimmerman . Lesbian Histories and Cultures: An Encyclopedia . 2000 . 1st . 1 (Encyclopedia of Lesbian and Gay Histories and Cultures) . . 0-8153-1920-7 . 748 . Symbols (by Christy Stevens) . https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofle00bzim/page/748 . registration .
  31. Web site: Lesbians Under the Nazi Regime . . . March 31, 2021 . January 28, 2023 . March 25, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220325155611/https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/lesbians-under-the-nazi-regime . live.
  32. News: Elman . R. Amy . Triangles and Tribulations: The Politics of Nazi Symbols . Remember.org . December 10, 2016 . December 20, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161220110705/http://remember.org/educate/elman. live. (Originally published as Elman . R. Amy . Triangles and Tribulations: The Politics of Nazi Symbols . . 1996 . 30 . 3 . 1–11 . 10.1300/J082v30n03_01 . 8743114 . 0091-8369.)
  33. Web site: Prager . Sarah . Four Flowering Plants That Have Been Decidedly Queered (Sapphic Violets) . . January 29, 2020 . July 19, 2020 . February 3, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210203190720/https://daily.jstor.org/four-flowering-plants-decidedly-queered/ . live.
  34. News: Mathers . Charlie . 18 Pride flags you might not have seen before . . January 1, 2018 . June 4, 2019 . June 1, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210601020941/https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/pride-flag-community/ . dead. (The Mathers article shows the derivative design, but not the original flag.)
  35. Web site: Redwood . Soleil . A Horniman Lesbian Flag . . February 26, 2020 . November 21, 2021 . August 16, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230816211624/https://www.horniman.ac.uk/story/a-horniman-lesbian-flag/ . live .
  36. Web site: McCray . Natalie . LLFlag . This Lesbian Life . July 2010 . June 9, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161011120237/https://thislesbianlife.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/llflag1.jpg . October 11, 2016.
  37. News: Rawles . Timothy . The many flags of the LGBT community . . July 12, 2019 . September 3, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190712231000/https://sdgln.com/social/2019/07/12/many-flags-lgbt-community . July 12, 2019 . dead.
  38. Web site: Blaxk . Natasha A. . Stern . Alana . 9 Queer Pride Flags That You Probably Didn't Know About . . June 22, 2016 . January 23, 2019 . June 1, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210601020909/https://www.theodysseyonline.com/9-queer-pride-flags-that-you-probably-didnt-know-about . live.
  39. Web site: A Complete Guide To All The LGBTQ+ Flags & What They Mean . Kasandra . Brabaw . . January 28, 2023 . January 28, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230128221747/https://www.refinery29.com/en-ca/lgbt-pride-flags-meaning . live.
  40. News: Andersson . Jasmine . Pride flag guide: what the different flags look like, and what they all mean . . July 4, 2019 . September 15, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190824081636/https://inews.co.uk/news/pride-flag-guide-what-the-different-flags-look-like-and-what-they-all-mean/ . August 24, 2019 . live.
  41. News: Dastagir . Alia E. . Oliver . David . LGBTQ Pride flags go beyond the classic rainbow. Here's what each one means . . June 1, 2021 . June 11, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210601103213if_/https://eu.usatoday.com/in-depth/graphics/2021/06/01/lgbtq-pride-flags-meaning-gay-lesbian-transgender-nonbinary-intersex-pride-flags-represent/5133381001/. June 1, 2021.
  42. Web site: LGBTQIA+ Symbols: Lesbian Flags . . April 2020 . June 6, 2021 . June 2, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210602011519/https://www.odu.edu/life/diversity/resources/lgbtqa/symbols . live.
  43. News: Murphy-Kasp . Paul . Pride in London: What do all the flags mean? . . July 6, 2019 . July 6, 2019 . June 17, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200617211013/https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-england-london-48885240/pride-in-london-what-do-all-the-flags-mean . live. (video)
  44. News: Glass . Jess . June 26, 2018 . Pride flags: All of the flags you might see at Pride and what they mean . April 19, 2019 . . April 19, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190419195547/https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2018/06/26/all-of-the-flags-you-might-see-at-pride-and-what-they-mean . live.
  45. Web site: . Everything you never understood about being nonbinary . April 19, 2019 . Gaygull . October 31, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201031014056/https://www.gaygull.com/everything-never-understood-nonbinary . live.
  46. Web site: June 27, 2013 . A field guide to Pride flags . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140724230618/http://clarebayley.com/2013/06/a-field-guide-to-pride-flags/. July 24, 2014 . July 17, 2014 . Clare Bayley.
  47. Web site: November 10, 2021 . What Is The Pansexual Pride Flag, And What Does It Stand For? . December 7, 2022 . en . December 7, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221207131343/https://queerintheworld.com/pansexual-pride-flag/ . live.
  48. Web site: December 5, 2016 . Pansexual Pride Day Today . https://web.archive.org/web/20170820034519/https://www.su.edu/event/pansexual-pride-day-today/ . August 20, 2017 . July 17, 2014 . Shenandoah University.
  49. Web site: November 9, 2012 . Do You Have a Flag? . https://web.archive.org/web/20130227063534/http://www.freedomrequireswings.com/2012/11/do-you-have-flag.html . dead . February 27, 2013 . July 17, 2014 . Freedom Requires Wings.
  50. Web site: Cantú Queer Center - Sexuality Resources . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170517044617/http://queer.ucsc.edu/resources/sexualities.html . May 17, 2017 . July 17, 2014.
  51. Web site: Gay & Lesbian Pride Symbols - Common Pride Symbols and Their Meanings . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160928022535/http://www.overtherainbowshop.com/symbols.htm . September 28, 2016 . July 17, 2014.
  52. Fairyington . Stephanie . November 12, 2014 . The Smithsonian's Queer Collection . . June 5, 2015.
  53. Web site: November 20, 2012 . LOOK: Historic Transgender Flag Flies Over The Castro . December 7, 2022 . . en . October 23, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221023223214/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/transgender-flag_n_2166742 . live.
  54. Web site: November 10, 2021 . What Is The Transgender Pride Flag, And What Does It Stand For? . December 7, 2022 . en . December 7, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221207131531/https://queerintheworld.com/transgender-pride-flag/ . live.
  55. Web site: June 4, 2015 . Philadelphia Raises the Transgender Pride Flag for the First Time . . September 26, 2021 . February 20, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190220101259/https://www.advocate.com/politics/transgender/2015/06/04/philadelphia-raises-transgender-pride-flag-first-time . live.

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