Pride flags are a large part of modern queer identification and symbolism. Over time, there have been many variations of pride flags, and many pride flags have been created to represent identities within the larger LGBTQIA+ community. For the sake of time and article length, this article will only go through five iterations of the rainbow flag, which is used to represent the queer community as a whole. 

First, the original rainbow flag was created in 1978 by Gilbert Baker for the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day celebration, held on the anniversary of the Stonewall Riot. The colors for this eight-striped flag had the following progression and symbolism, starting from the top and moving down: pink (sexuality), red (life), orange (healing), yellow (the Sun), green (nature), turquoise (art), indigo (harmony), and violet (spirit). 

A year later, in 1979, the pink and turquoise stripes were removed from the rainbow flag, and the indigo stripe was changed to a royal blue stripe. This was primarily because of the financial cost of producing the pink stripe, followed by the desire to maintain an even number of stripes. 

Another commonly found pride flag is the Philadelphia (Philly) pride flag, made in 2017 by the marketing company Tierney, which identifies itself on its website as a “creativity agency.” This added a black and a brown stripe above the rest of the colors of the 1979 rainbow flag. The purpose of this was to highlight queer people of color to encourage greater racial representation within the LGBTQ+ community. 

In 2018, Daniel Quasar created the Progress Pride flag. It adds five stripes in a triangular pattern pointing into the 1979 six-stripe rainbow flag. From left to right, the added colors are: white, light pink, light blue, brown, and black. The brown and black remain to continue highlighting queer people of color. Light blue, light pink, and white are the colors of the transgender flag. The Progress Pride flag was created to symbolize both the progress that has been made so far and the progress that still needs to be made. 

In 2021, the progress pride flag was modified by Valentino Vecchietti to include the intersex flag in the leftmost part of the triangle (a yellow background with a hollow purple circle in the center). This was to emphasize the majorly underrepresented intersex community as part of the LGBTQIA+ community (in case you ever wondered, that’s what the “I” stands for!). 

While there have been many other variations of the rainbow pride flag, these five are found most commonly. Personally, one of my favorite things about the queer community is its overall readiness to accept change, such as with different versions of flags, to best represent what is needed in the moment. As a queer person, I am proud of my community’s previous flags, and I look forward to seeing what new ones will come in the future.