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Rainbow Pagespage 2 |
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Erniejr's Rainbow Pages
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The United States of America
The
Rainbow
Flag
|
Use
of
the
rainbow
flag
by
the
gay
community
began
in
1978
when
it
first
appeared
in
the
San
Francisco
Gay
and
Lesbian
Freedom
Day
Parade.
Borrowing
symbolism
from
the
hippie
movement
and
black
civil
rights
groups,
San
Francisco
artist
Gilbert
Baker
designed
the
rainbow
flag
in
response
to
a
need for
a
symbol
that
could
be
used
year
after
year.
Baker and
thirty
volunteers
hand
stitched and
hand
dyed two
huge
prototype
flags
for
the
parade.
The flags
had
eight
stripes,
each
color
representing
a
component of
the
community:
hot
pink
for
sex,
red
for
life,
orange
for
healing,
yellow
for
sun,
green
for
nature,
turquoise
for
art,
indigo
for
harmony,
and
violet
for
spirit.
The
next
year
Baker
approached
San
Francisco
Paramount
Flag
Company
to
mass-produce
rainbow
flags
for
the
1979 parade.
Due
to
production
constraints
-such
as
the
fact
that
hot
pink
was
not
a
commercially
available
color
-
pink
and
turquoise
were
removed
from
the
design,
and
royal
blue
replaced
indigo.
This six color version
spread
from
San
Francisco
to
other
cities,
and soon
became
the
widely
known
symbol
of
gay
pride
and
diversity
it
is
today.
It
is
officially
recognized
by
the
International
Congress
of
Flag
Makers.
In
1989,
the
rainbow
flag
received
nationwide
attention
after
John
Stout
successfully
sued
his
landlords
in
West
Hollywood,
when
they
prohibited
him
from
displaying
the
flag
from
his
apartment
balcony.
Meanwhile,
Baker
is
still
in
San
Francisco,
and
still
making
more
flags.
In
1994,
a
huge 30-foot-wide
by
one-mile-long
rainbow
flag was carried
by
10,000 people in
New
York's Stonewall25
Parade.
The
rainbow
flag
has
inspired
a
wide variety
of
related
symbols,
such
as
freedom
rings
and
other
accessories.
There
are
plenty
of
variations
of
the
flag,
including
versions
with
a
blue field of stars
reminiscent
of
the
American
Stars
and
Stripes
and
versions
with
superimposed
lambdas,
pink
triangles,
or
other
symbols.
The Victory Over AIDS Flag modifies the rainbow flag by adding a black stripe at the bottom. Suggested by a San Francisco group, the black stripe commemorates those we have lost to AIDS. Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a high decorated Vietnam Veteran dying of AIDS, proposed that when a cure is eventually found the black stripes should be removed from all the flags and ceremoniously burned in Washington, D.C. |
|
Symbols of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Movements -A presentation of the major symbols associated with the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and trans gender movements (and some general symbols thrown in for good measure) and their histories. People with a History - Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, history, bibliography, pictures and images History of the Multicolor Flag -Contains information about the beginnings of the Gay flag. |
gay-
joyous and lively; merry; happy and light
hearted.
Erniejr's Rainbow Pages
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