Multiple sizes gay pride flags
In his memoir, Baker wrote that the rainbow design was “natural and necessary,” adding that the motif “came from earliest recorded history as a symbol of hope.” Lynn Segerblom (Faerie Argyle Rainbow) pictured with one of the original rainbow flags she helped design in 1978 (Later iterations of the flag dropped the hot pink and turquoise stripes because they were costly to produce.) One of the flags also featured a riff on the United States’ national flag, with blue-and-white tie-dyed stars in its upper corner. (Viewers can peruse an online version of the show here.)īaker, Segerblom, McNamara and other activists first flew two versions of their brilliantly colored flag at the United Nations Plaza on June 25, 1978, in celebration of “ Gay Freedom Day.” Each measuring 30- by 60-feet, the designs were hand-stitched and dyed with eight colored stripes: pink to symbolize sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for the sun, green for nature, turquoise for art and magic, blue for serenity, and purple for the spirit, according to the online exhibition. It will be featured as the centerpiece of “ Performance, Protest and Politics: The Art of Gilbert Baker,” an ongoing exhibition about the activist’s life and work. The rare fragment-presumed lost for more than four decades-resurfaced last year, writes Peter-Astrid Kane for the Guardian. Per a statement, its creators included queer artists Gilbert Baker, Lynn Segerblom and James McNamara, as well as more than 30 volunteers. Now an internationally recognized symbol of LGBTQ pride and civil rights, the rainbow flag design was conceived by a group of activists in San Francisco in 1978. Earlier this month, the GLBT Historical Society Museum unveiled a glass case containing a rare artifact: a segment of the original rainbow gay pride flag, its colors as vibrant as ever.
He pointed out that the rainbow symbolized unity in diversity and the power of light, enlightenment and progress. The first co-op rainbow flag was completed in 1924 and was adopted as an official symbol of the international cooperative movement in 1925.