History Of The Rainbow Flag

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Posted: December 18th, 2010 -- 11:15 AM ET

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A rainbow flag is a multi-colored flag consisting of stripes in the colors of the rainbow. The actual colors shown differ, but many of the designs are based on the traditional scheme of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, or some more modern division of the rainbow spectrum (often excluding indigo, and sometimes including cyan instead).

The use of rainbow flags has a long tradition; they are displayed in many cultures around the world as a sign of diversity and inclusiveness, of hope and of yearning.

There are several independent rainbow flags in use today. The most widely known is perhaps the pride flag representing gay pride. The peace flag is especially popular in Italy and the cooperative flag symbolizes the international co-operative movement. It is also used by Andean people to represent the legacy of the Inca empire (Wiphala) and Andean movements.

The rainbow flag, sometimes pride flag, LGBT pride flag or gay pride flag, is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) pride and LGBT social movements in use since the 1970s. The colours reflect the diversity of the LGBT community, and the flag is often used as a symbol of gay pride in LGBT rights marches. It originated in California, but is now used worldwide. Designed by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker in 1978, the design has undergone several revisions to first remove then re-add colours due to widely available fabrics. As of 2008, the most common variant consists of six stripes, with the colours red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. The flag is commonly flown horizontally, with the red stripe on top, as it would be in a natural rainbow.

Original eight-stripe version designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978

Version with hot pink removed due to fabric unavailability. (1978–1979)

Six-colour version popular since 1979. Number of stripes reduced to an even number to prevent middle colour from being hidden when hung vertically on lampposts, indigo changed to royal blue
The original gay-pride flag was hand-dyed by Gilbert Baker with his boyfriend Jomar Teng. It flew in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978. It has been suggested that Baker was inspired by Judy Garland's singing "Over The Rainbow". Another suggestion for how the rainbow flag originated is that at college campuses during the 1960s, some people demonstrated for world peace by carrying a Flag of the Races (also called the Flag of the Human Race) with five horizontal stripes (from top to bottom they were red, black, brown, yellow, and white). Gilbert Baker is said to have gotten the idea for the rainbow flag from this flag. Thirty volunteers hand-dyed and stitched the first two flags for the parade.

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Rule #1 (and only rule): Color RED goes ALWAYS on top. Just look at a real rainbow next time it rains.

Original eight-stripe version designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978

Version with hot pink removed due to fabric unavailability. (1978–1979)

Six-colour version popular since 1979. Number of stripes reduced to an even number to prevent middle colour from being hidden when hung vertically on lampposts, indigo changed to royal blue