The
rainbow flag was designed in 1978 by
Gilbert Baker, of
San Francisco as a response from the
gay community. The community wanted/needed a
symbol of pride and
harmony, and called upon Gilbert.
In history green, pink, lavender, and even black had been used as symbols for
homosexuality, but Gilbert wanted a symbol that would be universal and represent
diversity. He designed a
flag with eight stripes originally. Consisting of pink, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. The colors were to symbol pink for
sex, red for
life, orange for
healing, yellow for
sun, green for
nature, blue for
art, indigo for
harmony, and violet for
spirit. He hand dyed and sewed the flag himself. Very reminiscent of
Betsy Ross. However when he approached
San Francisco's Paramount Flag Company about the flag, he realized that pink could not be mass-produced, so pink was dropped from the flag.
The 1979
Pride Parade Committee decided to use Baker's flag in the
San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade. Since there were now 7 stripes the colors could not be evenly divided on the street during the parade. So indigo was dropped, leaving the six colors that we are familiar with today. Three colors were put on either side of the street for the parade. The
International Congress of Flag Makers recognizes the flag today.