# data[].attributes.headline
1969 - The Declaration of the Pride Month

# data[].attributes.subject
1969 - The Declaration of the Pride Month

# data[].attributes.body
June has long been recognized as LGBTQ Pride Month, in honor of the Stonewall riots, which took place in New York City in June 1969.

# data[].attributes.body
It goes back to 1978, when the artist Gilbert Baker, an openly gay man and a drag queen, designed the first rainbow flag. Baker later revealed that he was urged by Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S., to create a symbol of pride for the gay community. Baker decided to make that symbol a flag because he saw flags as the most powerful symbol of pride.

Baker saw the rainbow as a natural flag from the sky, so he adopted eight colors for the stripes, each color with its own meaning (hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit).

It was not until 1994 that the rainbow flag was truly established as the symbol for LGBTQ pride. That year Baker made a mile-long version for the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Now the rainbow flag is an international symbol for LGBTQ pride and can be seen flying proudly, during both the promising times and the difficult ones, all around the world.

# data[].attributes.body
Designed by Michael Page, the flag first appeared on the now-defunct website Bi Cafe. The bisexual flag has three stripes: one broad magenta stripe at the top, a similarly broad blue stripe at the bottom, and a lavender band in the middle.

Why those colors and the different sizes? Before Page created the flag, the bisexual community often used a triple triangle motif called Biangles. It's two overlapping triangles, one pink and one blue, that create a smaller purple triangle in the space where they meet. Page took colors and a concept that the community was already using and turned it into a flag.

In a history of the bi flag captured by the Internet Archive, Page explained, "The pink color represents sexual attraction to the same sex only (gay and lesbian). The blue represents sexual attraction to the opposite sex only (straight) and the resultant overlap color purple represents sexual attraction to both sexes (bi)."

# data[].attributes.body
In 1999, Monica Helms, a transgender woman and Navy veteran, decided that the trans community needed its own flag. She created a flag that consists of five stripes: two baby blue, two pink, and then a white stripe in the middle. Per Helms, "The stripes at the top and bottom are light blue, the traditional color for baby boys. The stripes next to them are pink, the traditional color for baby girls. The stripe in the middle is white, for those who are intersex, transitioning, or consider themselves having a neutral or undefined gender."

# data[].attributes.body
In 2017, Philadelphia made waves when it debuted its own version of the rainbow flag. Everything was the same as the OG rainbow flag, except for the inclusion of black and brown stripes at the very top. These colors were added to specifically call attention to people of color within the LGBTQ+ community. "So much has happened since then. A lot of good, but there’s more we can do. Especially when it comes to recognizing people of color in the LGBTQ+ community. To fuel this important conversation, we've expanded the colors of the flag to include black and brown."

# data[].attributes.body
In 2018, Daniel Quasar, a graphic designer, developed the Progress Pride flag by adding a five-colored chevron to the classic rainbow flag.  The colors of the trans flag and the brown and black stripes from the Philly Pride flag were moved to the left side of the flag and given a new chevron-style shape. The arrow points to the right to show forward movement, Quasar's site explains.

So, why was a new design necessary at all? "This new design forces the viewer to reflect on their own feelings towards the original Pride flag and its meaning as well as the differing opinions on who that flag really represents, while also bringing into clear focus the current needs within our community," Quasar explained on his site. "You can't avoid the message as it is right there in front of you."

# data[].attributes.body
Released in 2021, intersex designer and activist Valentino Vecchietti worked with Intersex Equality Rights U.K. to create this revamp of Quasar's design. Per Advocate, Vecchietti's design incorporates the intersex flag — yellow with a purple circle in the middle — which was introduced in 2013 by Morgan Carpenter of Intersex Human Rights Australia.

What's the meaning of the intersex flag itself? In a post, Carpenter said that he stayed away from colors traditionally associated with specific genders, like blue or pink. Both yellow and purple have been regarded as intersex colors, he explained.

As for the circle, Carpenter stated, "The circle is unbroken and unornamented, symbolizing wholeness and completeness, and our potentialities. We are still fighting for bodily autonomy and genital integrity, and this symbolizes the right to be who and how we want to be."

# data[].attributes.body
A flag that is looked up to is the most powerful symbol of pride, whether its the flag of your country, flag of your school. It is a symbol that is treated with power and respect. Flag represents your identity just like when we raise the Philippine Flag when the Olympic Gold medal was won. It is who you are and what you are. Same with the genders, with the LGBTQ+ community are still getting discriminations. Their flags represents their pride as of who they are. This is how they are telling the world "This is me and I love myself". This is their way of fighting for their rights and against discrimination. This is also a symbol that is asking the society for acceptance. Raise your flag as be brave and be proud of who you are.

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.britannica.com/story/how-did-the-rainbow-flag-become-a-symbol-of-lgbt-pride

https://www.mic.com/impact/the-history-of-the-lgbtq-pride-flag-from-the-og-rainbow-to-progress-pride-81148277

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
© Andrey Danilovich/iStock.com

June has long been recognized as LGBTQ Pride Month, in honor of the Stonewall riots, which took place in New York City in June 1969. During Pride Month, it is not uncommon to see the rainbow flag being proudly displayed as a symbol for the LGBTQ rights movement. But how did that flag become a symbol of LGBTQ pride?

It goes back to 1978, when the artist Gilbert Baker, an openly gay man and a drag queen, designed the first rainbow flag. Baker later revealed that he was urged by Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay elected officials in the U.S., to create a symbol of pride for the gay community. Baker decided to make that symbol a flag because he saw flags as the most powerful symbol of pride. As he later said in an interview, "Our job as gay people was to come out, to be visible, to live in the truth, as I say, to get out of the lie. A flag really fit that mission, because that's a way of proclaiming your visibility or saying, 'This is who I am!'" Baker saw the rainbow as a natural flag from the sky, so he adopted eight colors for the stripes, each color with its own meaning (hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit).

The first versions of the rainbow flag were flown on June 25, 1978, for the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day parade. Baker and a team of volunteers had made them by hand, and now he wanted to mass-produce the flag for consumption by all. However, because of production issues, the pink and turquoise stripes were removed and indigo was replaced by basic blue, which resulted in the contemporary six-striped flag (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet). Today this is the most common variant of the rainbow flag, with the red stripe on top, as in a natural rainbow. The various colors came to reflect both the immense diversity and the unity of the LGBTQ community.

It was not until 1994 that the rainbow flag was truly established as the symbol for LGBTQ pride. That year Baker made a mile-long version for the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Now the rainbow flag is an international symbol for LGBTQ pride and can be seen flying proudly, during both the promising times and the difficult ones, all around the world.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How Did the Rainbow Flag Become a Symbol of LGBTQ Pride?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
June has long been recognized as LGBTQ Pride Month, in honor of the Stonewall riots, which took place in New York City in June 1969. During Pride Month, it is not uncommon to see the rainbow flag being proudly displayed as a symbol for the LGBTQ rights movement.