The rainbow pride flag was launched in 1977 when gay politician Harvey Milk had activist Gilbert Baker design "something positive that celebrated queer love. Inspired by Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow," each color has symbolism: Hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for magic/art, indigo for serenity, and violet for spirit".
Pink and turquoise were removed for production purposes, and the six-band version, simply known as the “Gay Pride” flag, has been the most well-recognized symbol of the LGBT movement since 1979. As the original designer advocated for its evolution over the years there have been some redesigns. Today, there are over 50 flags representing various subgroups among the 2S+LGBTQI community.
In 2017, Philadelphia’s Office of LGBT Affairs introduced black and brown stripes to the Pride flag to recognize queer and trans people of color. One year later, the Oregon-based graphic designer Daniel Quasar added the trans flag’s stripes as a horizontal chevron to make the Progress Pride Flag. 2021 brought another version from Intersex Equality Rights UK, featuring a yellow triangle and purple circle to represent the intersex community, or people born with a reproductive anatomy that doesn’t fit typical male or female definitions.
(from 2021 article in The Atlantic").
THE ACRONYM 2SLGBTQI+
from the Canadian government website on gender equality — " 2SLGBTQI+ is the acronym used by the Government of Canada to refer to the Canadian community.
2S: at the front, recognizes Two-Spirit people as the first 2SLGBTQI+ communities;
L: Lesbian;
G: Gay;
B: Bisexual;
T: Transgender;
Q: Queer;
I: Intersex, considers sex characteristics beyond sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression;
+: is inclusive of people who identify as part of sexual and gender diverse communities, who use additional terminologies."
Pink and turquoise were removed for production purposes, and the six-band version, simply known as the “Gay Pride” flag, has been the most well-recognized symbol of the LGBT movement since 1979. As the original designer advocated for its evolution over the years there have been some redesigns. Today, there are over 50 flags representing various subgroups among the 2S+LGBTQI community.
In 2017, Philadelphia’s Office of LGBT Affairs introduced black and brown stripes to the Pride flag to recognize queer and trans people of color. One year later, the Oregon-based graphic designer Daniel Quasar added the trans flag’s stripes as a horizontal chevron to make the Progress Pride Flag. 2021 brought another version from Intersex Equality Rights UK, featuring a yellow triangle and purple circle to represent the intersex community, or people born with a reproductive anatomy that doesn’t fit typical male or female definitions.
(from 2021 article in The Atlantic").
THE ACRONYM 2SLGBTQI+
from the Canadian government website on gender equality — " 2SLGBTQI+ is the acronym used by the Government of Canada to refer to the Canadian community.
2S: at the front, recognizes Two-Spirit people as the first 2SLGBTQI+ communities;
L: Lesbian;
G: Gay;
B: Bisexual;
T: Transgender;
Q: Queer;
I: Intersex, considers sex characteristics beyond sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression;
+: is inclusive of people who identify as part of sexual and gender diverse communities, who use additional terminologies."
