And I made a couple flags actually, but this one I submitted to a blog on Tumblr about genderfluidity and gender fluid people. "I wouldn’t call myself an artist, but I’ve dabbled with drawing and bits of Photoshop, so I decided to create it myself. I found genderfluid to be fitting but was disappointed with the lack of symbolic representation," Poole said. Xe added white, pink, and baby blue to represent transgender. At the time I knew genderqueer fit me, but it still felt too broad. Quasar changed the traditional gay pride flag and added stripes on the left side of the flag. "I had been trying to find an identity that fit me. In an interview with Majestic Mess Designs, Poole said they created the flag because genderfluidity lacked a symbol and the term "genderqueer" didn't exactly fit. Purple: Represents both masculinity and feminity The flag was created by JJ Poole in 2012 according to OutRight Action International. How often someone's identity shifts depends on the individual. It expressed our diversity in terms of gender, race, our age and all the ways we are different yet connected.” – Bakerįor additional Brownstein Pride education, explore the Source of Pride.People who are genderfluid don't identify with one gender, but rather their gender identity shifts between male, female, or somewhere else on the spectrum. We needed something that worked beyond words and the rainbow fits perfectly. They are not just symbols they mean something to people. The black stripe took influence from the Victory Over AIDS flag.Īs we continue to support the LGBTQIA+ community beyond the month of June, let’s remember the meaning of the Pride flag and in its evolution the single thread that connects the entirety of the community - individuals claiming their own truth. In 2017, Amber Hikes introduced the More Color, More Pride flag incorporating two new colors to the top of the flag: black & brown to represent marginalized LGBTQ communities of color. The white, pink and light blue were used to represent Trans men, Trans women and nonbinary, non-gender conforming individuals. The flag added a black stripe to the bottom of the original pride flag to represent those lost to HIV/AIDS and the stigma that still surrounds those living with HIV today.īy 1999, the Trans Pride flag originally created by Monica Helms, incorporated three additional colors. Here we take a look at the flag’s continued evolution from Baker’s original influence and ways in which designers worked to be inclusive of all people within the LGBTQIA+ community.įrom the original Pride flag created by Gilbert Baker, here are the meaning of the varied colors:īy the 1980s, the Victory Over AIDS flag appeared at the height of the AIDS epidemic. Over time, additional colors and their symbolism have been added to the flag with the Progress flag designed by Daniel Quasar in 2018 becoming popularized and widely used in recent years.
This led to the creation of the Pride flag, originally designed in 1978 by Gilbert Baker. The intended idea was to own the symbol, but the community felt as though they needed something new and vibrant to reflect positivity and inspiration.
Prior to the rainbow flag, a pink triangle was used as a symbol which honored the same representation used to identify homosexual men in Jewish concentration camps. With our continued pursuit of diversity, equity and inclusion, we wanted to dig deeper and focus on the symbolism of the rainbow within the Pride flag - and what the colors mean to the larger LGBTQIA+ community.
Over the years, brands and corporations have adapted the Pride flag colors across product, marketing and more to show rallying support during Pride month. The month of June has been recognized as Pride Month for over twenty years, commemorating the Stonewall Riots that occurred in June of 1969.