JOIN USJune is 'Pride Month' and celebrates the struggles and victories of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and asexual community. At events conducted during the month, the rainbow-coloured flag is a common sight. It has become a universal symbol for LGBTQ pride and LGBTQ social movements. It makes you wonder - how did this flag come to be?
The origin of the rainbow flag can be traced back to 1978. Gilbert Baker, the designer of the flag, was an openly gay artist and drag queen during the 1970s. He was persuaded by his friend Harvey Milk to design a symbol for the gay community. Milk was the first openly gay person elected to public office in the US.
Baker, drawing inspiration from the US flag, created the first rainbow flag that was made up of eight colours. Each colour had a symbolic meaning. Hot pink stood 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.
The flag was meant to be a substitute for the pink triangle that was imposed by the Nazis to identify and oppress the community. The community later went on to use this symbol as a remembrance of the prosecution that they faced. It is still used alongside the rainbow flag.
The first flags were flown during the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978. These flags were handmade by Baker and a group of volunteers of the gay community centre. Pink and turquoise were later removed and indigo was changed to royal blue to make mass production easier. These changes gave birth to today’s widely used six-hue flag.
It was in 1994 that the flag received worldwide attention. For the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a mile-long flag was made. It was at the time declared the world's largest flag by the Guinness Book of World Records.
The Stonewall riots in the early hours of June 28, 1969, marked the beginning of the gay rights movement. The Stonewall Inn in New York City was a gay bar where fighting between the police and gay people broke out after the New York police raided the bar.
The LGBTQ community has always suffered harassment from police and that night was the first time that large numbers of gay people resisted arrest and changed the course of history.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. The battle for LGBTQ rights has come a long way. In various countries, homosexual acts have been decriminalised and multiple gender identities have been accepted. However, there is still a long way to go. The pride flag has endured and continues to fly as a symbol of unity and inclusiveness in the ongoing fight for social justice and equal rights.