Rainbow Pride Flag: History, Meaning & Colours (2026)
The short version
- The rainbow pride flag was designed by artist and activist Gilbert Baker in 1978, commissioned by Harvey Milk and other San Francisco activists.
- The original flag had 8 stripes (hot pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo, and violet), each with a specific meaning.
- Hot pink was dropped in late 1978 due to fabric shortages; turquoise was removed in 1979 so the 6 remaining stripes could split evenly down Castro Street lampposts.
- The 6-stripe rainbow flag (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet) is the version most people know today.
- The Progress Pride Flag, designed by Daniel Quasar in 2018, builds on Baker's design with a chevron that adds trans, BIPOC, and (since 2021) intersex inclusion.
We're Delwin and Jimmy, two queer co-founders running Proud Zebra from the Lower Mainland, BC. We've been designing pride pins, patches, and accessories since late 2020, and most weeks at least one customer asks us some version of: where did the rainbow flag come from, and what do its colours actually mean?
This guide walks through the answer: Gilbert Baker's original 1978 design, the famous reduction from 8 stripes to 6, what each colour was meant to represent, and how the flag has evolved into the Progress Pride Flag many of us fly today. It's also part of our complete guide to LGBTQ+ pride flags, where we cover all 32 of the major identity flags in one place.
Who designed the rainbow pride flag?
Gilbert Baker designed the rainbow pride flag in 1978. Born in Chanute, Kansas in 1951, Baker was drafted into the US Army in 1970 and stationed in San Francisco as a medic. After his honourable discharge in 1972 he stayed in the city, taught himself to sew, and became part of the activist circles forming around the rising gay liberation movement.
In 1977, a group of San Francisco activists (including Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California) asked Baker to create a unifying symbol for the city's LGBTQ+ community. They wanted something positive to replace the pink triangle, which originated in Nazi concentration camps and carried the weight of that trauma.
Baker chose the rainbow. It felt natural, hopeful, and inclusive, a spectrum that, by definition, includes everyone. He hand-dyed and stitched the first two flags himself with the help of around 30 volunteers (including activists Lynn Segerblom and James McNamara) in the attic of the Gay Community Center on Grove Street. The fabric was dyed in metal trash cans filled with natural dye. The flag debuted on June 25, 1978, at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.
Baker described the choice in his own words years later:
"A flag really fit that mission, because that's a way of proclaiming your visibility or saying, 'This is who I am!'"
Gilbert Baker, Rainbow Warrior (memoir, published posthumously in 2019)
Baker passed away on March 31, 2017, at age 65. One of his original hand-dyed 8-stripe flags is now part of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's permanent collection, acquired in 2015. The Gilbert Baker Foundation continues his work today.
What did the 8 original stripes of the rainbow flag mean?
Each stripe in the 1978 flag carried a specific meaning Baker assigned during the design process. Here's the full breakdown:
| Stripe | Colour | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (top) | Hot pink | Sex |
| 2 | Red | Life |
| 3 | Orange | Healing |
| 4 | Yellow | Sunlight |
| 5 | Green | Nature |
| 6 | Turquoise | Magic and art |
| 7 | Indigo | Serenity / harmony |
| 8 (bottom) | Violet | Spirit |
Baker said in later interviews that the rainbow felt right because it spans the visible spectrum, it celebrates everyone by definition. He wanted the colours to feel celebratory rather than mournful, a deliberate move away from the pink-triangle imagery that had defined queer visibility before that point.
Why does the rainbow flag have 6 stripes today?
Two things happened in quick succession that took the flag from 8 stripes to 6.
First, in November 1978 (just five months after the flag's debut), Harvey Milk was assassinated. Demand for the rainbow flag surged as the LGBTQ+ community mobilized in mourning and protest. The Paramount Flag Company started mass-producing the design but ran into a problem: hot pink fabric was hard to source at production scale. The hot pink stripe was dropped.
Second, in 1979, the San Francisco Pride Foundation wanted to display the flag along Market Street and down Castro Street, splitting it on either side of the lampposts. With 7 stripes, the split was uneven. Removing turquoise made it 6, which could be hung 3-and-3, evenly. The community accepted the change.
The 6-stripe rainbow flag (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet) became the version that's now flown around the world.
How does the rainbow flag relate to the Progress Pride Flag?
The 6-stripe rainbow flag has been the dominant LGBTQ+ symbol for decades, but it has critics. The most consistent feedback over the years: it doesn't visually represent the breadth of the community, particularly trans people, queer people of colour, and (more recently) intersex people.
In 2017, the Philadelphia Pride flag added black and brown stripes above the rainbow to centre Black and brown LGBTQ+ communities. In 2018, designer Daniel Quasar created the Progress Pride Flag, adding a 5-colour chevron (white, pink, light blue, brown, and black) to the left side of the 6-stripe rainbow. The pink and light blue stripes specifically reference the transgender pride flag.
In 2021, intersex activist Valentino Vecchietti updated the design again, adding a yellow triangle with a purple circle (the intersex pride flag symbol) into the chevron. This Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag is the version most widely flown at corporate, civic, and grassroots events today.
The rainbow flag and the Progress Pride Flag aren't in opposition, they sit in conversation. The original tells you where the movement started; the Progress flag tells you who the movement keeps trying to make space for.
When we designed our Inclusive Pride Flag Proud Cubes (our take on the Progress Pride Flag), we kept this conversation in mind. Not every pride symbol has to do every job. The rainbow can stay foundational and beloved while the Progress flag picks up where it left off.
What does the rainbow pride flag mean?
The rainbow pride flag represents the LGBTQ+ community as a whole, and the diversity of human sexuality and gender within it. Each colour in the 6-stripe version carries forward Baker's original symbolism: red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, blue for serenity (replacing indigo), and violet for spirit. Together the stripes are read as a single statement, the LGBTQ+ community is a spectrum, and every part of it belongs.
It also functions as a peace symbol and a marker of safety. When a business, school, or city flies the rainbow flag, it's signalling that queer people are welcome there. That's a big part of why the symbol has spread so far beyond June.
How is the rainbow flag used today?
The 6-stripe rainbow remains the most recognized LGBTQ+ symbol in the world. You'll see it flown at pride parades, hung outside city halls in June, stitched onto military uniforms in countries that allow it, and printed on everything from coffee mugs to kindergarten classrooms.
It's also become a shared global symbol of LGBTQ+ resistance. After mass shootings, hate crimes, and legislative attacks, communities around the world raise the rainbow flag in solidarity, most visibly in the wake of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando.
For us at Proud Zebra, the rainbow is also still our most-requested design across pins, shoelaces, and stickers. It's the flag that brings new members of the community in, the one that felt safe to wear first, before they knew which more specific identity flag fit best.
"Absolutely adore my progress pride pin! It arrived in beautiful condition and with a lovely thank you card. I'm so glad to have found such a wonderful small business that radiates kindness and support for the LGBTQ+ community!"
Allie
We've also designed individual rainbow pride pins that work alongside more specific identity flags, so customers can wear the broad rainbow next to (say) a bisexual or trans flag pin without one cancelling out the other. Browse the full pride pins collection for the complete range.
Frequently asked questions
What does the rainbow pride flag mean?
The rainbow pride flag represents the LGBTQ+ community and the diversity of human sexuality and gender within it. The 6 stripes (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet) carry forward Gilbert Baker's original symbolism for life, healing, sunlight, nature, serenity, and spirit. It also functions as a peace symbol and a visible marker of safety, signalling that queer people are welcome wherever it flies.
Who designed the original rainbow pride flag?
Gilbert Baker, an American artist and gay rights activist, designed the rainbow pride flag in 1978. Harvey Milk (the first openly gay elected official in California) was among the activists who commissioned Baker to create a unifying symbol for the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. Baker hand-dyed and stitched the first two flags himself with about 30 volunteers in the attic of San Francisco's Gay Community Center.
What did the 8 colours of the original rainbow flag mean?
Each of the 8 stripes carried a specific meaning: hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for magic and art, indigo for serenity, and violet for spirit. The flag debuted on June 25, 1978 at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.
Why does the rainbow flag have 6 stripes now?
After Harvey Milk's assassination in November 1978, demand for the rainbow flag surged. Hot pink fabric was hard to source at production scale, so the pink stripe was dropped. In 1979, the turquoise stripe was also removed so the flag had an even number of stripes that could be split evenly down San Francisco's Castro Street lampposts (three on each side). The 6-stripe version became the standard.
What's the difference between the rainbow flag and the Progress Pride Flag?
The Progress Pride Flag, designed by Daniel Quasar in 2018, builds on the 6-stripe rainbow flag by adding a 5-colour chevron (white, pink, light blue, brown, and black) to represent trans people, queer people of colour, and those lost to AIDS. Valentino Vecchietti added an intersex symbol (a yellow triangle with a purple circle) in 2021, creating the Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag widely used today.
Where is Gilbert Baker's original rainbow flag now?
One of Gilbert Baker's hand-dyed original 8-stripe flags is part of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History's permanent collection, acquired in 2015. Baker passed away in 2017 at age 65, leaving behind one of the most recognized symbols in modern history.
Carrying the flag forward
Forty-plus years after Gilbert Baker first hand-dyed eight strips of cotton in a San Francisco attic, the rainbow flag is everywhere, and the conversation about what queer visibility should look like keeps evolving. Both things can be true.
If you wear the original 6-stripe rainbow, an Inclusive Progress Pride Flag pin, or one of the more specific identity flags from our complete pride flags guide, you're carrying forward a tradition Baker started: visibility is itself an act of solidarity.
We've donated $10,219.58 CAD to LGBTQ+ organizations to date (as of 2026-05-13), including Rainbow Refugee, Covenant House Vancouver, GLSEN, UNYA, and Sayoni (previously supported). See our donations page for the full list. Every order helps that number grow.
Written by Delwin Tan, Co-Founder of Proud Zebra
Published 2026-05-06. Last updated 2026-05-18.
Delwin co-founded Proud Zebra with his partner Jimmy Cheang in late 2020. We're a queer-owned Canadian small business, designing pride pins, patches, stickers, and accessories from the Lower Mainland, BC. We've donated $10,219.58 CAD to LGBTQ+ organizations to date (as of 2026-05-13).
