You put a rainbow flag on your windshield and you're saying something." Baker ended up saying something with each color he chose to put on the flag: "Pink is for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sun, green for nature, turquoise for magic, blue for serenity and purple for the spirit.” In 2017, a month before his death, Baker spoke with ABC7, a local San Francisco news channel, explaining that gay rights activist Harvey Milk had been the one to approach him about creating the original rainbow flag, seeking a symbol under which the LGBTQ+ community could unite, something that "would take the place of the dreaded pink triangle used decades ago by the Nazis to identify homosexuals."īaker told ABC7 he wanted to make a flag because " lags are about power. To get prepared for Pride, here's 10 pride flags whose symbolism everyone should know. The rainbow flag, however, is not the only queer pride flag around. The rainbow pride flag, created in 1978 by gay activist Gilbert Baker, has occasionally gone through some cosmetic changes - including a petition to add black and brown to the flag to uplift queer people of color - but it is still the single most unifying and identifiable symbol of the LGBTQ+ community.
It's officially Pride Month, which means you're going to spend the next 29 days surrounded by all things rainbow.