Behind The LGBT Flag

Esteban Garcia

Chronicle Reporter

In 1978, San Francisco was the birth of the first official symbol of the gay community. The flag was created and brought meaning by Gilbert Baker, an artist and drag queen. It contained the first six colors as seen on modern day flags. The colors and representations are as follows: pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, blue for art, and indigo for harmony.

” I think that’s their way to represent the gay community and what they stand for. It’s their symbol of representation.” said Jessalie Gallegos, an 11th grade PAM student.

The first usage of the flag was in 1978 San Francisco by gay activists who marched to protest the assassination of Harvey Milk. He was the first gay person who was elected in office in California as a city supervisor.

Gilbert Baker said to the Washington Post that, “We needed something beautiful, something from us. The rainbow is so perfect because it really fits our diversity in terms of race, gender, ages, all of those things. Plus, it’s a natural flag—it’s from the sky! And even though the rainbow has been used in other ways in vexillography, this use has now far eclipsed any other use that it had.”

gay-pride

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/06/29/how-the-rainbow-became-the-symbol-of-gay-pride/

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