Pride monthis almost here! If you've ever been to a pride parade or lived in a community that celebrates LGBTQ+ people, you've probably seen a variety of colorful flags and perhaps wondered what each one means. We have all the information you needThe meaning of the pride flag, so you can be informed and supported.
"The pride flag is important because it gives visibility to the LGBTQIA+ community; that we exist and that our community is important," said Rev.Anne-Marie ZanzalexplainsWomen's Day. She is an ordained priest who works with cis and trans women who come out to the LGBTQIA+ community later in life. "It's also an identifier for other Queer people that that person, business or church is safe for me as an LGBTQIA+ person."
In addition to the rainbow flag, you may have seen other flags that symbolize a range of specific gender identities and sexualities. "There are also numerous labels of sexual orientation including bisexual, pansexual, asexual and more," she shares.Jillian Amodio, a social worker who works with the LGBTQ+ population and is the founderMoms for Mental Health. "Striving in any way to be inclusive and represent different populations and subcultures within the community is always important," she says.Women's Day.
In addition to learning about the meaning behind Pride flags and displaying them at home or in the workplace, you can tooshop for products that support organizations that advocate for LGBTQ+ rightsand think aboutquotes from the LGBTQ+ community.
22 Pride flags and what they mean:
Gilbert Baker's Pride Flag (Original Pride Flag)
In 1978, artist Gilbert Baker created the first version of the rainbow Pride flag as we know it today. "The rainbow flag was a conscious choicenatural and necessary," he wrote on his website. "The rainbow came from the earliest recorded history as a symbol of hope."
Eachcolor on the flagrepresents something else:
- Pink = sex
- Red = life
- Orange = medicinal
- Yellow = Sunlight
- Zeleno = nature
- Turquoise = magic
- Blue = cheerfulness
- Purple = Spirit
Pride flag from 1978
According to the Gilbert Baker Foundation website, demand for the Pride flag increased after the murderHarvey Milkin November 1978. The hot pink fabric needed for the top stripe of the flag was difficult to obtain, so the Paramount Flag Company and Baker worked together to create a flag using rainbow fabric with seven stripes.
1979 Rainbow Pride Flag (Traditional Pride Flag)
The rainbow flag was modified again in 1979. When it hung vertically on light poles in San Francisco, the center stripe (turquoise) was obscured. The easiest remedy was to create a flag with an even number of stripes, which is how we ended up with this version of the Pride flag that is still widely used today.
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Philadelphia Pride Flag
U 2017.Philadelphia unveiled a new version of the Pride flag, which includes black and brown stripes representing the black and Hispanic communities. It was created after activists drew attention to racism in Philadelphia's LGBTQ+ community and demanded greater inclusion and intersectionality.
A pride flag of progress
In 2018, artist Daniel Quasar debuted this flag, which added pink and blue stripes representing the trans community and incorporated black and brown stripes representing marginalized communities from the Philadelphia flag.
They explainedthe meaning of this flagon his website, writing: "The main part of the flag (the background) includes the traditional The Pride flag seen in its most commonly used form... The stripes of the trans flag and the stripes of a marginalized community were transferred to the flagpole and given a new chevron shape. The arrow points to the right to indicate forward movement, while it is along the edge of the crane to indicate that there is still progress to be made."
Pride flag with two spirits
According toCampaign for Human Rights, this flag represents Native Americans who identify as two-spirited individuals, meaning they do not fall into the male/female binary. "The circle signifies the unification of both identities into a separate gender while the rainbow represents modern queer identities."
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Transgender Pride Flag
Thethe transgender pride flag was designed in 1999 by Monica Helms, a trans activist from Arizona. She used pink and blue stripes because they are often associated with girls and boys, and included a white stripe to represent intersex, transitioning or non-gendered people.
Non-binary pride flag
This flag is used to symbolize non-binary pride for people who do not identify with a binary gender such as male or female. It wascreated in 2014 by Kye Rowan. The yellow stripe symbolizes existence beyond the binary, white represents all genders, black is not gender, and purple is a mix of genders.
Intersex Pride Flag
According to the Human Rights Campaign, this flag was developed by Morgan Carpenter, co-chair of Intersex Human Rights Australia in 2013. It was designed to be yellow and purple as these are considered gender neutral colours.
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Intersex Pride Flag
The most recent known iteration of the Pride flag is this one from 2021, which incorporates intersex Pride symbolism alongside the existing Progress Pride Flag design. According to the Human Rights Campaign, it was created by Valentino Vecchietti of Intersex Equality Rights UK.
Flag of Genderfluid pride
This oneThe Pride Flag was created by JJ Poole in 2012to represent people whose gender expression and identity are not fixed. Each color represents something different:
- Pink = femininity
- White = all genders
- Purple = both masculinity and femininity
- Black = lack of sex
- Blue = masculinity
Bisexual pride flag
Thethe bisexual pride flag was designed by activist Michael Page1998. The light pink stripe represents women, the blue stripe represents men, and the purple stripe down the middle represents attractiveness to both men and women.
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Lesbian pride flag
There have been multiple iterations of the lesbian pride flag, including that of Emily Gwen in 2018. Different shades celebrate gender nonconformity, independence, community, a unique relationship to womanhood, peace, serenity, love, sex, and femininity.
Trans-inclusive Gay Men's Pride Zastava
According to the Human Rights Campaign, this is another version of the pride flag specifically for gay men. This version has different shades of green and blue to include non-cisgender gay men.
Pansexual pride flag
This flag represents people who identify as pansexual, meaning they are attracted to people of any gender. According to the Human Rights Campaign, it was created around 2010 and "the pink stripe represents appeal to women, while the blue stripe represents appeal to boys. The yellow stripe is for everyone else in between and outside the gender binary."
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Asexual pride flag
According to the Grand Rapids Pride Center,The asexual pride flag was created in 2010. Each stripe has a specific meaning on the flag. The black stripe represents asexuality, the gray stripe represents the gray area between sexual and asexual, the white stripe represents sexuality, and the purple stripe represents union. Asexual people are people who have no sexual attraction towards any gender.
Demisexual Pride Flag
This flag has the same colors as the asexual pride flag above, but they are in a slightly different configuration to represent demisexual pride. According to the Human Rights Campaign, it represents people who become sexually attracted to someone only after they have established a deep emotional connection.
Polysexual pride flag
Polysexual people are attracted to more, but not necessarily all, genders. According to SexualDiversity.org,The polysexual pride flag was created in 2012. The pink stripe represents appeal to people who identify as female, while the green stripe represents appeal to people who identify outside the traditional gender binary. Finally, the blue stripe represents an attraction for people who identify as male.
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Genderqueer Pride Flag
According to the Grand Rapids Pride Center,the gender queer pride flag was designed in 2011 by Marilyn Roxie, genderqueer writer and advocate. The lavender stripe is a mix of blue and pink and represents an androgynous and queer identity. The white stripe is supposed to symbolize age- or gender-neutral identities, and the green stripe represents third-gender identities and identities outside the gender binary.
Pride Flag agenda
In 2014pride flag agendahe created Salem X to represent people whose gender cannot be identified, who are gender neutral or gender neutral. Black and white stripes represent the absence of gender, gray represents semi-asexuality, and the central green stripe represents non-binary genders.
Jamie Ballard
Contributing writer
Jamie Ballard (she/her) is a freelance writer and editor covering news, lifestyle and entertainment topics including sex and relationships, TV, movies, books, health, pets, food and drink, pop culture, shopping and personal finance . She contributes regularlyCosmopolitan,Women's Day,Good housekeeping, and YouGov, among other publications. When she's not working, you can find her running, traveling, or scrolling through TikTok. Follow her furtherTwitter.
FAQs
What does this flag mean 🏳 🌈? ›
The rainbow flag🏳️🌈 (also known as the LGBT pride flag) is a flag that is used as a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) pride and LGBTQ social movements.
What do the LGBT colors mean? ›Each of the original eight colors had their own unique symbolism. Hot pink: sex; Red: life; Orange: healing; Yellow: sunlight; Green: nature; Turquoise: magic and art; Indigo: serenity; and Violet: spirit.
What does Lgbtqia 2 mean? ›stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and Two-Spirit. The terms used to describe gender identities and sexual orientations are constantly changing and being updated to better represent people.
What LGBT flags have 5 stripes? ›Genderfluid Pride Flag
The flags five horizontal colored stripes represent the diversity of gender fluidity, genderfluid identity, and the genderfluid community. Genderfluid people may also identify as a part of the non-binary community, transgender community, or as multigender.
🏳️⚧️ Transgender Flag emoji. The Transgender Flag emoji 🏳️⚧️ portrays a flag with pink, blue, and white stripes. This particular flag is used to represent the transgender community and is used to express transgender Pride.
Which flag is this 🏴? ›🏴 Flag: England.
What is LGBTQIA2S stand for? ›Ask yourself, can you see what they see? Can you see someone for who they truly are? What does LGBTQIA2S+ mean? LGTBQIA2S+ is an acronym for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and/or Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Two-Spirit, and the countless affirmative ways in which people choose to self-identify.
What is the LGBT rainbow color code? ›Gilbert Baker designed the rainbow flag for the 1978 San Francisco's Gay Freedom Celebration. In the original eight-color version, pink stood for sexuality, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for the sun, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony and violet for the soul.
What country has rainbow flag? ›This rainbow flag was introduced to Peru in 1973 by Raúl Montesinos Espejo, in recognition of the 25th anniversary of his Tawantinsuyo Radio station. As the flag's popularity grew, Cusco mayor Gilberto Muñiz Caparó declared it an official emblem in 1978.
What does LGBTQ2IA+ stand for? ›Alphabet Soup. LGBTQ2IA or 2SLGBTQ+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Two-Spirit, Intersex, Asexual.
What are the titles of Lgbtqia+? ›
LGBTQIA+: Abbreviation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual. An umbrella term that is used to refer to the community as a whole. Often shortened to LGBTQ+, but not as a means to exclude other identities.
What does Lgbtqia 1 stand for? ›LGBTQIA+: An acronym used to signify Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, and Asexual people collectively.
How many flags are there? ›There are 254 different flags in the world, covering all countries and dependent territories (including the United Kingdom and Kosovo). If that's too many for you, the flags of the U.N.
What is the biggest LGBT flag? ›The mile-long flag, dubbed "Raise the Rainbow", took months of planning and teams of volunteers to coordinate every aspect. The flag utilized the basic six colors and measured 30 feet (9.1 m) wide.
What size are Lgbtq flags? ›The most popular and standard 3x5 foot Rainbow Flag is lightweight Knitted Polyester that make flag flying high to its attractive appearance.
What flag is this 🇺 🇳? ›🇺🇳 Flag: United Nations
The Flag: United Nations emoji is a flag sequence combining 🇺 Regional Indicator Symbol Letter U and 🇳 Regional Indicator Symbol Letter N. These display as a single emoji on supported platforms.
🇬🇬 Flag: Guernsey
The flag for Guernsey, which may show as the letters GG on some platforms. The Flag: Guernsey emoji is a flag sequence combining 🇬 Regional Indicator Symbol Letter G.
The Chequered Flag emoji 🏁 depicts a flag with a black-and-white checkerboard pattern. It is commonly used to represent vehicle racing, races in general, challenges, or accomplishments.
What flag is this 🎌? ›Emoji Meaning
Two Japanese Flags, crossed at the base. Except on some Samsung devices, which have previously displayed two South Korean flags. Crossed Flags was approved as part of Unicode 6.0 in 2010 and added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015.
🇮🇩 Flag: Indonesia.
How many different genders are there? ›
There are many different gender identities, including male, female, transgender, gender neutral, non-binary, agender, pangender, genderqueer, two-spirit, third gender, and all, none or a combination of these.
What are the 6 pride colors? ›The 6-Color Pride Flag is one of the most well-known and used LGBT flags throughout history. This flag includes the colors red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, and violet on it. Hot pink wasn´t included in the fabrication of these flags, because the fabric was hard to find.
Is rainbow emoji Lgbtq? ›🌈 Rainbow emoji
, it's commonly used to express LGBTQ identity and pride.
The gray hex code is #808080.
Is there a purple flag in the world? ›Purple is one of the least used colours in vexillology and heraldry. Currently, the colour appears in only three national flags: that of Dominica, El Salvador, and Nicaragua, and one co-official national flag, the Wiphala (co-official national flag of Bolivia).
Why do only 2 countries have purple in their flag? ›Until then, this color was used only by the very rich. This colour was first used on flags after the synthetic production of purple began. We can also see this color in the flags of Dominica and Nicaragua, which were designed after 1900. These are the only two countries in the world to use purple on their flags.
Which country has only one color in its flag? ›The flag of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya was adopted on 19 November 1977 and consisted of a green field. It was the only national flag during that time in the world with only one colour. It was chosen by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to symbolise his political philosophy (after his Green Book).
What gender is 2S? ›2S – Two-Spirit (or 2 Spirit or 2S): an important term within some Indigenous cultures and for some Indigenous people, meaning a person with both a feminine and a masculine spirit living in the same body. This is often used to describe sexual orientation, gender identity and / or spiritual identity.
What is a 2 spirit person? ›Traditionally, Native American two-spirit people were male, female, and sometimes intersexed individuals who combined activities of both men and women with traits unique to their status as two-spirit people. In most tribes, they were considered neither men nor women; they occupied a distinct, alternative gender status.
What is the full name of LGBTQQIP2SAA? ›LGBTQQIP2SAA means "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Queer, Intersex, Pansexual, Two-Spirit (2S), Androgynous and Asexual."
Is it Lgbtqia or Lgbtqia? ›
LGBTQIA is an abbreviation for "lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and/or questioning, intersex,, asexual/aromantic/agender." The “A" in LGBTQIA may also refer to “ally" or “allied," meaning someone who does not identify as LGBTQIA but supports those who do.
What does the A and I stand for in Lgbtqia? ›Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual.
What is the meaning of alphabet people? ›As The Alphabet People, we're a group of human beings made up of every letter in the alphabet, as well as the syllables and spaces in between. Yet, in the majority of media, we most often are not the ones in positions to speak on our behalf and explain who we are in our own words.
Which is the best flag? ›- Albania. With a black double-headed eagle against a red background as its flag design, the Albanian flag has one of the most striking and intimidating flag designs in the world. ...
- Japan. We have to give some props to the Japanese flag. ...
- Switzerland. ...
- Jamaica. ...
- Sierra Leone.
🇮🇱 Flag: Israel.
What is the oldest pride flag? ›Designed by artist Gilbert Baker at the request of San Francisco City Supervisor and first openly gay elected official in the history of California, Harvey Milk, the original rainbow flag made its debut at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade celebration on June 25, 1978.
Why is the rainbow flag popular? ›The rainbow flag was popularized as a symbol of the gay community by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker in 1978. The different colors are often associated with "diversity" in the gay community (but actually have literal meanings).
What is the history of the pride flag? ›The first known Pride flag – sewn by Gilbert Baker – debuted at the June 1978 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. Baker was urged by Harvey Milk, an early gay activist and firebrand, to construct a flag to symbolize the value and dignity of what was then called “the gay community.”
What are size 7 flags? ›Size 7 flags are 36"x 36", pennants are 24"x 24" and substitutes are 24"x 48".
What size is the pan flag? ›The Pansexual Pride Flag was shared in 2010 by Jasper V. It has been used since to increase visibility and recognition of the pansexual community, which comprises of people who experience sexual or romantic attraction to people regardless of gender.
What size is the non binary flag? ›
The yellow stripe represents people whose gender exists outside of the binary, the white stripe, people with many or all genders, the purple, people with genders considered a mix of male and female, and the black for people who identify as not having a gender. Flags are 3'x5′ polyester.
What does this flag mean 🇼 🇸? ›🇼🇸 Flag: Samoa
The flag for Samoa, which may show as the letters WS on some platforms. The Flag: Samoa emoji is a flag sequence combining 🇼 Regional Indicator Symbol Letter W and 🇸 Regional Indicator Symbol Letter S.
Answer. A Flag icon indicates that the Student or Site has a special note attached to it.
What does flag this message mean? ›You can Flag an email message you receive to remind yourself to follow-up or take action at a later time. Your flagged message will appear in the To-Do Bar, in Tasks, and in the Daily Task List in Calendar. You can also click your Search Folder – For Follow Up to find the messages you've flagged. 1.
What does flag tattoo mean? ›What does an American flag tattoo mean? An American flag tattoo represents freedom, justice, and resiliency. Men who decide to get American flag tattoos want to show love and respect for their country. Others choose to get this tattoo to remember all the people who have fought or died serving America.
What flag is this 🇦 🇺? ›🇺🇦 Flag of Ukraine emoji Meaning | Dictionary.com.
What flag is this 🇷 🇺? ›🇷🇺 Flag: Russia
The flag for Russia, which may show as the letters RU on some platforms. The Flag: Russia emoji is a flag sequence combining 🇷 Regional Indicator Symbol Letter R and 🇺 Regional Indicator Symbol Letter U.
🇵🇳 Flag: Pitcairn Islands
The Flag: Pitcairn Islands emoji is a flag sequence combining 🇵 Regional Indicator Symbol Letter P and 🇳 Regional Indicator Symbol Letter N. These display as a single emoji on supported platforms. Flag: Pitcairn Islands was added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015.
Emoji Meaning
The flag for Iran, which may show as the letters IR on some platforms. The Flag: Iran emoji is a flag sequence combining 🇮 Regional Indicator Symbol Letter I and 🇷 Regional Indicator Symbol Letter R. These display as a single emoji on supported platforms. Flag: Iran was added to Emoji 1.0 in 2015.
A signal of danger or a problem can be referred to as a red flag, a usage that originated in the 18th century.
What does an orange flag mean? ›
What does an orange utility flag stand for? An orange utility flag stands for phone and telecommunication lines, alarm or signal lines, cables or conduits, and fiberoptics.
What are the different flag warnings? ›Red flag is high hazard meaning high surf and/or strong currents. Yellow flag is medium hazard meaning moderate surf and/or currents. Green flag is low hazard meaning calm conditions, exercise caution. Purple flag means dangerous marine life spotted.
What does flagging mean in slang? ›If something is flagging, it's worn out or weak.
What do a white flag mean in messages? ›: a token of weakness or yielding.
What flag colors mean? ›The stripes represent the original 13 Colonies and the stars represent the 50 states of the Union. The colors of the flag are symbolic as well; red symbolizes hardiness and valor, white symbolizes purity and innocence, and blue represents vigilance, perseverance and justice.
Why is there a snake on the flag? ›The 'Don't Tread on Me' rattlesnake depicts a rattlesnake coiled up and ready to strike. The intended message was that America, like the rattlesnake, would not back down, nor would they attack, unless their rights were infringed on. For many, the flag was meant as both a warning and a promise.
What does the flag cross mean? ›The Meaning of a Flag With a Cross
In many cases, the cross is a religious symbol that represents Christianity, but it can also have other meanings depending on the context in which it is used. One of the most common uses of the cross on national flags is as a representation of Christianity or one of its saints.