It’s safe to say that Pride Month is one of the most colourful months of the year – as cities, businesses and people across the globe show their support for the LGBTQIA+ community by donning the Pride Flag throughout June.
But did you know that there are more than 20 different Pride Flags? As we reminisce about Pride Month, following on from the vibrant celebrations at Pride Parade in London on Saturday 1 July, we’d like to reflect on the history of the Pride Flag, and what the different flags stand for.
The Gilbert Pride Baker Flag
The first Pride Flag was created by artist, activist, and openly gay military veteran Gilbert Baker in 1977. Gilbert Baker created a rainbow flag to represent the LGBTQ community, after being inspired by the classic song ‘Over the Rainbow’ from the 1939 film The Wizard from OZ.
Each colour on the flag had a symbolic meaning:
- Hot Pink symbolises sex
- Red equals life
- Orange symbolises healing
- Yellow stands for sunlight
- Green represents nature
- Turquoise equals magic & art
- Indigo stands for serenity
- Violet represents the spirit of LGBTQ people
The 6 – colour Pride Flag
You might be familiar with this Pride Flag as it is one of the popular LGBT flags used throughout history. Although the 6-colour flag has had a few modifications over time; for example, hot pink wasn’t included on the flag after 1978 as the fabric was hard to find when demand increased following the assassination of Harvey Milk, a historic figure in the fight for LGBTQ rights. The turquoise stripe was also removed from the 7-stripe flag in 1979 by Gilbert Baker – resulting in the 6-stripe version becoming standard for future production.
The Bisexual Flag
Michael Page created the Bisexual Pride Flag in 1998. His idea for the flag represents pink and blue blending to make purple – the way that bisexual people can blend into the straight and gay community.
- The pink symbolizes attraction to the same gender
- The blue represents attraction to a different gender
- The purple represents attraction to two or more genders, the definition of bisexuality
The Transgender Flag
Transgender people have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from the sex that they were assigned to at birth. In 1999, Monica Helms, a transgender woman, first created the Transgender Flag. The colours light blue and pink are featured because they are the traditional colours associated with baby boys and girls, and the white stands for those who are intersex, transitioning or those who do not identify with any gender.
Drag Feather Pride Flag
The Drag Feather Pride Flag, initially known as the Drag Pride Flag, was created by Sean Campbell in 1999. It has a Phoenix in its centre, which symbolizes the drag community’s rebirth and the fire of passion they use to raise awareness and funds for different causes. The phrase “to drag” refers to a performance of masculinity, femininity, or other forms of gender expression - it is to dress up to exhibit yourself in a way that differs from your everyday expressions.
The Asexual Flag
The Asexual Visibility and Education Network created the Asexual Flag in 2010. Asexual is the lack of sexual attraction to others, but asexuality can mean different things to different people, therefore it is best to ask each individual what it means to them. Asexual can be an umbrella term and each colour in this flag also represents something unique.
- Black stands for asexuality
- Grey represents demisexuality
- White stands for the allies of the community
- Purple represents the entire asexual community
The Pansexual Flag
The Pansexual Flag was created in 2010. Pansexuality represents people who feel attracted to a person without thinking about gender - meaning that they can feel attraction to those who identify as women, men, both or neither.
- Pink represents attraction to women
- Blue represents attraction to men
- Yellow stands for attraction to those who don’t identify with gender
The Lesbian Flag
Natalie McCray created the Lesbian Flag in 2010, featuring different shades of pink and sometimes a red kiss on it to represent lipstick lesbians.
The colours in the new flag represent the following:
- Darkest Orange - Gender nonconformity
- Middle Orange – Independence
- Lightest Orange – Community
- White – Unique relationships to womanhood
- Lightest Pink – Serenity and peace
- Middle Pink – Love and sex
- Darkest Pink – Femininity
The Gender Queer Pride Flag
A genderqueer identifies with neither, both, or a combination of male and female genders. Advocate and Genderqueer writer Marilyn Roxie created the Gender Queer Pride Flag in 2011 with three horizontal stripes that represent:
- Lavender traditionally represents women and men
- White represents gender – neutral and agender identities
- Chartreuse represents identities that aren’t in the gender binary and the third gender
The Graysexual Pride Flag
The first version of the Graysexual Pride Flag was created by Milith Rusignuolo in 2013. The colours on the flag are supposed to represent someone starting with no sexual attraction (purple – asexuality), then going through an episode of attraction (grey to white), and then returning to asexuality once again. A Graysexual individual identifies themselves asexual but does not fall into one of the primary kinds of asexuality.
The Intersex Flag
The Intersex Flag has gone through a lot of changes over the years – however, in 2013 Morgan Carpenter chose the colours yellow and purple for the Intersex Flag. Morgan moved away from the rainbow symbolism and selected these colours because neither is associated with the social constructs of the gender binary. The perfect and unbroken circle represents the wholeness of intersex people and is a reminder that intersex people are perfect the way they are or choose to be.
The Maverique Pride Flag
Vesper H (queerascat) first created the Maverique Pride Flag on Tumblr in 2014. The term Maverique combines the English word “maverick” and the French suffix “ique” to describe the non-binary or abinary gender with significant gendered experiences. Maverique individuals are free to use whatever pronouns they prefer and present themselves however they want.
The Maverique Pride flag colours are:
- Yellow represents non-binary genders are also frequently related to the colour yellow
- White represents autonomy or independence from the gender binary and spectrums of genders – it is the blank slate that Maverique is based.
- Orange represents the inner conviction of what a maverique feels regarding their gender, also describes as the unorthodox and individualistic nature of mavericks.
The Bigender Pride Flag
Tumblr user ‘no-bucks-for-this-does’, created the original version of the Bigender Pride Flag. The creation date of this flag is unknown; however, it is assumed to have existed before 30 July 2014. A bigender individual is a person having or experiencing two different genders of any combination. The meanings of the colours are unknown, although it is often speculated that the colours have the same meaning as the original flag:
- Blue represents masculinity
- Pink represents femininity
- Purple represents a mix of genders or androgyny
- White at its centre symbolizes the nonbinary nature of bigender.
The Nonbinary Flag
In 2014, Kye Rowan created the Nonbinary Pride Flag to represent people whose gender identity doesn’t fit within the traditional male/female binary. Each colour symbolises a different subgroup of people who identify as nonbinary:
- Yellow signifies people who identify outside of the cisgender binary of male or female
- White stands for multi-gendered people
- Purple represents people who identify as a blending of male and female genders
- Black signifies those who are agender, who feel they do not have a gender
The Genderflux Pride Flag
Genderflux is a phrase that encompasses gender identities – where an individual’s gender or sense of the intensity of their gender changes over time. Although there are different versions of the Genderflux Pride Flag, the original version created sometime between 2014 and 2015 is most used. The Genderflux Pride Flag has six horizontal strips and six colours where:
- Dark pink represents women
- Light pink represents demi girls
- Grey represents agender
- Light blue represents demi boy
- Dark blue represents men
- Yellow represents non-binary genders
The Demiboy Pride Flag
A demiboy is a person who identifies with the concept of masculinity. The Demiboy Pride Flag was created in 2015 by Tumblr user Transrants, although Transrants didn’t explain the colours; the demiboy community have assigned meaning to them. The flag has 4 colours which are:
- Blue which represents manhood/masculinity
- White represents non-binary or agender
- The shades of grey represent the grey areas and partial connections to other genders than the binary concepts of gender (male or female).
The Abrosexual Flag
The Abrosexual Flag was created in 2015 by Mod Chad of pride-flags-for-us, after another anonymous person requested it. Abrosexual refers to an individual whose sexuality is changing or fluid - for example, someone could be gay one day, then sexual the next, then polysexual the next. Some abrosexual people may be fluid between all sexualities, whilst others may only be fluid between a few.
The Philadelphia Pride Flag
The Philadelphia Pride Flag was launched in 2017 due to the demand for more inclusivity across the LGBTQ+ community – as part of the ‘More Colour More Pride’ Campaign. The addition of black and brown stripes to the traditional pride flag symbolized people of colour, who had previously not been included in aspects of the mainstream gay rights movement.
New Progress Pride Flag
As the LGBTQIA+ community and society continue to evolve, the Progress Pride Flag integrates many of the Pride Flags into one. The New Progress Pride Flag has been redesigned to place a greater emphasis on ‘inclusion and progression’ – including stripes to represent the experiences of people of colour, as well as stripes to represent transgender people, gender nonconforming (GNC) and/or undefined.
Valentino Veccheietti of Intersex Equality Rights UK revised the Progress Pride Flag in 2021 to incorporate the intersex flag. In the new design, the chevron of the Progress Flag includes a yellow triangle with a purple circle in the middle.
The Gay Men’s Pride Flag
The Gay Men’s Pride Flag, featuring different shades of green, blue, and purple, is inclusive of a much wide range of gay men, including but not limited to transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming men.
Heterosexual Pride Flag
The term “straight” is used to describe people that are attracted to a member of the opposite sex. Although straight is often used to describe non-LGBT people, it is possible for straight people to be part of the LGBT community, as they might be transgender, asexual heteroromantic, or aromantic heterosexual, which also makes them LGBT.
The Straight Ally Flag
A straight ally or heterosexual ally is a heterosexual and/or cisgender person who supports equal civil rights, gender equality, LGBT social movements, and challenges homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia. A straight Ally Flag is using the black and white colours of the heterosexual flag as a field, but it adds a large rainbow coloured ‘A’ (for ‘Ally’) to indicate straight support for the Gay Pride/Equal Marriage movement.
Thank you for joining us in learning more about the Pride Flags and what they stand for – remember Love is Love. 💕
Happy Pride Month!
But did you know that there are more than 20 different Pride Flags? As we reminisce about Pride Month, following on from the vibrant celebrations at Pride Parade in London on Saturday 1 July, we’d like to reflect on the history of the Pride Flag, and what the different flags stand for.
The Gilbert Pride Baker Flag
The first Pride Flag was created by artist, activist, and openly gay military veteran Gilbert Baker in 1977. Gilbert Baker created a rainbow flag to represent the LGBTQ community, after being inspired by the classic song ‘Over the Rainbow’ from the 1939 film The Wizard from OZ.
Each colour on the flag had a symbolic meaning:
- Hot Pink symbolises sex
- Red equals life
- Orange symbolises healing
- Yellow stands for sunlight
- Green represents nature
- Turquoise equals magic & art
- Indigo stands for serenity
- Violet represents the spirit of LGBTQ people
The 6 – colour Pride Flag
You might be familiar with this Pride Flag as it is one of the popular LGBT flags used throughout history. Although the 6-colour flag has had a few modifications over time; for example, hot pink wasn’t included on the flag after 1978 as the fabric was hard to find when demand increased following the assassination of Harvey Milk, a historic figure in the fight for LGBTQ rights. The turquoise stripe was also removed from the 7-stripe flag in 1979 by Gilbert Baker – resulting in the 6-stripe version becoming standard for future production.
The Bisexual Flag
Michael Page created the Bisexual Pride Flag in 1998. His idea for the flag represents pink and blue blending to make purple – the way that bisexual people can blend into the straight and gay community.
- The pink symbolizes attraction to the same gender
- The blue represents attraction to a different gender
- The purple represents attraction to two or more genders, the definition of bisexuality
The Transgender Flag
Transgender people have a gender identity or gender expression that differs from the sex that they were assigned to at birth. In 1999, Monica Helms, a transgender woman, first created the Transgender Flag. The colours light blue and pink are featured because they are the traditional colours associated with baby boys and girls, and the white stands for those who are intersex, transitioning or those who do not identify with any gender.
Drag Feather Pride Flag
The Drag Feather Pride Flag, initially known as the Drag Pride Flag, was created by Sean Campbell in 1999. It has a Phoenix in its centre, which symbolizes the drag community’s rebirth and the fire of passion they use to raise awareness and funds for different causes. The phrase “to drag” refers to a performance of masculinity, femininity, or other forms of gender expression - it is to dress up to exhibit yourself in a way that differs from your everyday expressions.
The Asexual Flag
The Asexual Visibility and Education Network created the Asexual Flag in 2010. Asexual is the lack of sexual attraction to others, but asexuality can mean different things to different people, therefore it is best to ask each individual what it means to them. Asexual can be an umbrella term and each colour in this flag also represents something unique.
- Black stands for asexuality
- Grey represents demisexuality
- White stands for the allies of the community
- Purple represents the entire asexual community
The Pansexual Flag
The Pansexual Flag was created in 2010. Pansexuality represents people who feel attracted to a person without thinking about gender - meaning that they can feel attraction to those who identify as women, men, both or neither.
- Pink represents attraction to women
- Blue represents attraction to men
- Yellow stands for attraction to those who don’t identify with gender
The Lesbian Flag
Natalie McCray created the Lesbian Flag in 2010, featuring different shades of pink and sometimes a red kiss on it to represent lipstick lesbians.
The colours in the new flag represent the following:
- Darkest Orange - Gender nonconformity
- Middle Orange – Independence
- Lightest Orange – Community
- White – Unique relationships to womanhood
- Lightest Pink – Serenity and peace
- Middle Pink – Love and sex
- Darkest Pink – Femininity
The Gender Queer Pride Flag
A genderqueer identifies with neither, both, or a combination of male and female genders. Advocate and Genderqueer writer Marilyn Roxie created the Gender Queer Pride Flag in 2011 with three horizontal stripes that represent:
- Lavender traditionally represents women and men
- White represents gender – neutral and agender identities
- Chartreuse represents identities that aren’t in the gender binary and the third gender
The Graysexual Pride Flag
The first version of the Graysexual Pride Flag was created by Milith Rusignuolo in 2013. The colours on the flag are supposed to represent someone starting with no sexual attraction (purple – asexuality), then going through an episode of attraction (grey to white), and then returning to asexuality once again. A Graysexual individual identifies themselves asexual but does not fall into one of the primary kinds of asexuality.
The Intersex Flag
The Intersex Flag has gone through a lot of changes over the years – however, in 2013 Morgan Carpenter chose the colours yellow and purple for the Intersex Flag. Morgan moved away from the rainbow symbolism and selected these colours because neither is associated with the social constructs of the gender binary. The perfect and unbroken circle represents the wholeness of intersex people and is a reminder that intersex people are perfect the way they are or choose to be.
The Maverique Pride Flag
Vesper H (queerascat) first created the Maverique Pride Flag on Tumblr in 2014. The term Maverique combines the English word “maverick” and the French suffix “ique” to describe the non-binary or abinary gender with significant gendered experiences. Maverique individuals are free to use whatever pronouns they prefer and present themselves however they want.
The Maverique Pride flag colours are:
- Yellow represents non-binary genders are also frequently related to the colour yellow
- White represents autonomy or independence from the gender binary and spectrums of genders – it is the blank slate that Maverique is based.
- Orange represents the inner conviction of what a maverique feels regarding their gender, also describes as the unorthodox and individualistic nature of mavericks.
The Bigender Pride Flag
Tumblr user ‘no-bucks-for-this-does’, created the original version of the Bigender Pride Flag. The creation date of this flag is unknown; however, it is assumed to have existed before 30 July 2014. A bigender individual is a person having or experiencing two different genders of any combination. The meanings of the colours are unknown, although it is often speculated that the colours have the same meaning as the original flag:
- Blue represents masculinity
- Pink represents femininity
- Purple represents a mix of genders or androgyny
- White at its centre symbolizes the nonbinary nature of bigender.
The Nonbinary Flag
In 2014, Kye Rowan created the Nonbinary Pride Flag to represent people whose gender identity doesn’t fit within the traditional male/female binary. Each colour symbolises a different subgroup of people who identify as nonbinary:
- Yellow signifies people who identify outside of the cisgender binary of male or female
- White stands for multi-gendered people
- Purple represents people who identify as a blending of male and female genders
- Black signifies those who are agender, who feel they do not have a gender
The Genderflux Pride Flag
Genderflux is a phrase that encompasses gender identities – where an individual’s gender or sense of the intensity of their gender changes over time. Although there are different versions of the Genderflux Pride Flag, the original version created sometime between 2014 and 2015 is most used. The Genderflux Pride Flag has six horizontal strips and six colours where:
- Dark pink represents women
- Light pink represents demi girls
- Grey represents agender
- Light blue represents demi boy
- Dark blue represents men
- Yellow represents non-binary genders
The Demiboy Pride Flag
A demiboy is a person who identifies with the concept of masculinity. The Demiboy Pride Flag was created in 2015 by Tumblr user Transrants, although Transrants didn’t explain the colours; the demiboy community have assigned meaning to them. The flag has 4 colours which are:
- Blue which represents manhood/masculinity
- White represents non-binary or agender
- The shades of grey represent the grey areas and partial connections to other genders than the binary concepts of gender (male or female).
The Abrosexual Flag
The Abrosexual Flag was created in 2015 by Mod Chad of pride-flags-for-us, after another anonymous person requested it. Abrosexual refers to an individual whose sexuality is changing or fluid - for example, someone could be gay one day, then sexual the next, then polysexual the next. Some abrosexual people may be fluid between all sexualities, whilst others may only be fluid between a few.
The Philadelphia Pride Flag
The Philadelphia Pride Flag was launched in 2017 due to the demand for more inclusivity across the LGBTQ+ community – as part of the ‘More Colour More Pride’ Campaign. The addition of black and brown stripes to the traditional pride flag symbolized people of colour, who had previously not been included in aspects of the mainstream gay rights movement.
New Progress Pride Flag
As the LGBTQIA+ community and society continue to evolve, the Progress Pride Flag integrates many of the Pride Flags into one. The New Progress Pride Flag has been redesigned to place a greater emphasis on ‘inclusion and progression’ – including stripes to represent the experiences of people of colour, as well as stripes to represent transgender people, gender nonconforming (GNC) and/or undefined.
Valentino Veccheietti of Intersex Equality Rights UK revised the Progress Pride Flag in 2021 to incorporate the intersex flag. In the new design, the chevron of the Progress Flag includes a yellow triangle with a purple circle in the middle.
The Gay Men’s Pride Flag
The Gay Men’s Pride Flag, featuring different shades of green, blue, and purple, is inclusive of a much wide range of gay men, including but not limited to transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming men.
Heterosexual Pride Flag
The term “straight” is used to describe people that are attracted to a member of the opposite sex. Although straight is often used to describe non-LGBT people, it is possible for straight people to be part of the LGBT community, as they might be transgender, asexual heteroromantic, or aromantic heterosexual, which also makes them LGBT.
The Straight Ally Flag
A straight ally or heterosexual ally is a heterosexual and/or cisgender person who supports equal civil rights, gender equality, LGBT social movements, and challenges homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia. A straight Ally Flag is using the black and white colours of the heterosexual flag as a field, but it adds a large rainbow coloured ‘A’ (for ‘Ally’) to indicate straight support for the Gay Pride/Equal Marriage movement.
Thank you for joining us in learning more about the Pride Flags and what they stand for – remember Love is Love. 💕
Happy Pride Month!
Last edited by Rebecca; 06-07-23 at 11:06.
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