Rainbow meaning for gay pride

How the Rainbow Became a Symbol for Pride – and Why it Matters

Every June, the LGBTQ+ community and allies celebrate Pride Month, and, in recent years, we own seen a substantial increase in companies showing their support by incorporating the rainbow flag as part of their logos and/or products. To those outside of the community this seems fond of a wonderful way to notice Pride Month — but many in the LGBTQ+ community undergo otherwise. The term “rainbow washing” has become the new label for the seemingly instantaneous and universal change from company colors to rainbow colors on June 1.  Rainbow washing is viewed as a performative act of support, rather than as a meaningful or intentional expression of support.  

I’d like to verb a moment to explain what the colors on the Pride flag mean and share a brief history on the evolution of the flag — from where it started to how it is presented today.  

A symbol of and for pride  

It is common knowledge that the rainbow flag is a symbol of LGBTQ+ Pride. However, it is less commonly known that the colors

LGBTQ+ Pride Flags

In the LGBTQ+ community, we signify our pride with flags. With many different identities in the community, there comes many different flags to know. We have calm all of the flags and a guide to learn about all of the different colors of our community’s rainbow. We know that this may not be all of the flags that represent our community, but we will update the page as new flags become popular!

Explore the flag collection below! Verb a flag's name by hovering or clicking on the flag.

Umbrella Flags

  • Gilbert Baker Pride Flag

  • Traditional Pride Flag

  • Philadelphia Pride Flag

  • Progress Pride Flag

  • Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag

  • Queer Pride Flag

The original Pride Flag was created in after activist Harvey Milk asked artist Gilbert Baker to design a symbol of gay pride. Each color represents a different part of the LGBTQ+ community: hot pink represents sex, red symbolizes life, orange stands for healing, yellow equals sunlight, green stands for nature, turquoise symbolizes magic and art,

The Progress Pride flag was developed in by non-binary American artist and designer Daniel Quasar (who uses xe/xyr pronouns). Based on the iconic rainbow flag from , the redesign celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQ community and calls for a more inclusive society. In , the V&A acquired a bespoke applique version of the Progress Pride flag that can be seen on display in the Design – Now gallery.

'Progress' is a reinterpretation of multiple iterations of the pride flag. The original 'rainbow flag' was created by Gilbert Baker in to celebrate members of the gay and lesbian political movement. It comprised eight coloured stripes stacked on top of each other to evoke a rainbow, a symbol of hope. Baker assigned a specific meaning to each colour: pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for magic, indigo for serenity and violet for spirit. A year later the pink and turquoise stripes were dropped owing to a shortage of pink fabric at the hour and legibility concerns, resulting in the six-colour rainbow flag most commo

You might be familiar with the six-colored rainbow flag that is widely used to represent the LGBTQ+ community. But did you know that this is a relatively new rendition of the original? 

The original flag (shown here) was designed by activist, veteran, drag queen, and artist, Gilbert Baker, and made its debut at the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade in He was inspired by the Rolling Stones song She’s a Rainbow, and the s hippies movement, assigning each color with a specific meaning:

  • Pink: Sex (later removed)

  • Red: Life

  • Orange: Healing

  • Yellow: Sunlight

  • Green: Nature

  • Turquoise: Magic (later removed)

  • Indigo: Serenity

  • Violet: Spirit 

The evolution to the six-colored flag used today happened out of practicality. 

After the parade in , demand for the Pride Flag increased, but the boiling pink fabric was difficult to find in large quantities. Then, the Paramount Flag Company started making a version out of the standard rainbow colors to help meet demand, and a seven-color pride flag was the new norm.

A year later,