Pride Flags (original) (raw)
A brief history and description of each pride flag flown at our Center. Click the_"Read More"_ to get more information on a pride flag.
The flags listed below and the history behind them were compiled through research done by the GSRC Staff. This is not an exhaustive list of all flags. If you see any flag that should be added to our page, or a piece of information on how one of the flags originated that doesn’t make sense or should be changed, please reach out togsrc@unco.edu.
Ally Pride Flag
Ally: People who aren’t a part of the LGBTQA+ community, but do support them.
History: The Ally flag was created sometime in the late 2000’s, but the specific origin is unknown.
Straight allies are heterosexual and/or cisgender people who support equal civil rights, gender equality, LGBTQA+ social movements, and challenges homophobia, biphobia, transphobia, and any discrimination against the LGBTQA+ community.
Flag Meaning:
“A”: Represents allies, as “a” is the first letter of the word. Rainbow Colors: Represents the LGBTQA+ community. Black and White Bars: Represents heterosexual and/or cisgender people.
Aromantic Pride Flag
Aromantic: Someone who does not experience romantic attraction, or does so in a significantly different way than is traditionally thought of.
History: The first aromantic pride flag was a four-stripe design with green, yellow, orange, and black. Green represented the opposite of red (the color of romance), yellow played off of yellow flowers which represent friendship, orange because it was between yellow and red (for grey-romantics), and black was for alloromantics who reject the traditional ideas of romance. It is unknown when this flag was designed, or by whom.
The second aromantic pride flag was a five stripe design of dark-green, light-green, yellow, grey, and black. This design was created by Tumblr user Cameron (@cameronwhimsy) from Australia on February 7, 2014.
The third and most recent design is the one flown by the GSRC, and is the most widely accepted version, replacing the yellow of the second flag to a white stripe. This flag was designed by Cameron as well, updating the design themselves on November 16, 2014.
Flag Meaning:
Dark Green: Represents aromanticism. Light Green: Represents the aromantic spectrum.
White: Represents platonic and aesthetic attraction, as well as queer/quasi platonic relationships.
Grey: Represents grey-aromantic and demiromantic people. Black: Represents the sexuality spectrum.
Asexual Pride Flag
Asexuality: The lack of sexual attraction to all genders.
History: The asexual flag came about after AVEN (Asexual Visibility and Education Network) held a contest on its forum boards to create a pride flag for those who identify as asexual. The winning design was posted on June 30, 2010 by AVEN user “standup”. The colors black, grey, white and purple, were chosen as the same ones that are a part of AVEN’s logo.
Asexuality includes a spectrum of many asexual identities under its umbrella.
Flag Meaning:
Black: Asexuality. Grey: Grey-asexuality and demi-sexuality. White: Non-asexual partners and allies. Purple: Community.
Bisexual Pride Flag
Bisexuality: The physical or romantic attraction to two genders.
History: The word “bisexual” comes from the Greek prefix “bi” meaning “two”. The bisexual pride flag was created in 1998 by Michael Page, to differentiate the community from the rainbow flag and the gay community. Page decided to create it after his time at BiNet USA, a nonprofit organization.
The flag was unveiled on December 5, 1998, at BiCafe’s (an early bisexual web site) 1st anniversary party.
Flag Meaning:
Pink: Representing attraction to those of the same gender identity. Purple: Representing attraction to two genders. Blue: Representing attraction to those who identify as a different gender.
Colorado Pride Flag
History: The Colorado Pride Flag combines the original Colorado state flag with the rainbow stripes from the LGBTQA+ pride flag. The “C”, golden disk, and colors were not specifically stated though until 1964. The flag has rapidly gained popularity since 2016, and can be seen at local pride parades.
Along with the Colorado LGBTQA+ Pride Flag, many other U.S. states have their own versions of their state flags with rainbow coloring added to represent LGBTQA+ Pride.
Flag Meaning:
Blue: Represents the sky.
White: Represents the snow-capped mountains. “C”: For Colorado. Red: For the clay in the ground. Yellow: For the sunshine Colorado gets.
Genderqueer Pride Flag
Genderqueer: People whose gender identity does not fit within the male/female binary.
History: The flag was created in June 2011 by Marilyn Roxie in order to create visibility for the genderqueer community and related identities. The flag was originally intended to represent all non-binary and genderqueer people, but as the genderqueer community grew the flag became synonymous with "genderqueer" specifically, leaving many non-binary people to not feel represented by the flag. A non-binary flag was created in February 2014 by Kye Rowan to represent non-binary people specifically.
Flag Meaning:
Lavender: Mixture of “blue” and “pink”. Represents androgyny, and people who identify as a mixture of female and male. White: Represents agender people. Dark Chartreuse Green: The inverse of lavender. Represents people who identify outside of and without reference to the gender binary.
Intersex Pride Flag
Intersex: A person born with physical sex characteristics that don’t fit the traditional definitions for male or female bodies.
History: The intersex flag was unveiled on July 5, 2013 by creator Morgan Carpenter, then co-chair of Organization Intersex International Australia. Carpenter created the flag as a way to have a commonly understood symbol and flag. He mentioned that other attempts seemed derivative and sought to create something that had a firmly grounded meaning.
The flag has quickly gained popularity among intersex communities and organizations, thanks in part to its unique design. A flag that is also used to represent intersex pride and awareness was created in 2009 by Natalie Phox, with blue, pink, purple, and white stripes.
Flag Meaning:
Purple: Used because it’s seen as a gender neutral color.
Yellow: Used because it’s seen as a gender neutral color.
Circle: Represents wholeness, completeness and the intersex people’s potentiality.
Pansexual Pride Flag
Pansexuality: The attraction to people regardless of their gender identity.
History: The word “pansexual” comes from the Greek prefix “pan” meaning “all”. Pansexuality differs from bisexuality in that people who identify as pansexual are emotionally or physically attracted to all genders, regardless of sex or gender identity, whereas bisexuality is defined as people who are emotionally or physically attracted to two genders.
The pansexual pride flag was created to differentiate between the bisexuality flag, which also has three horizontal bars. It was created on the internet sometime around 2010, and has gained popularity since then.
Flag Meaning:
Pink: Representing attraction to those who identify as female. Yellow: Representing attraction to those who identify as genderqueer, non-binary, agender, androgynous, or anyone who doesn’t identify on the male-female binary. Blue: Representing attraction to those who identify as male.
Philadelphia Pride Flag
LGBTQA+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Asexual, and all other identities that fall into the LGBTQA+ community across the gender, sexuality, and romantic spectrums.
QPOC: Queer People of Color. Members of the queer community who are also people of color.
History: The QPOC inclusive LGBTQA+ flag, or “Philadelphia Pride Flag” was unveiled on June 8, 2017 at a Pride Month kick-off event at Philadelphia City Hall. The Philadelphia Pride Flag adds two stripes, black and brown, to the traditional 6 of the rainbow flag. The design was created by Philadelphia based PR agency Tierney for Philadelphia’s “More Color More Pride” campaign. Adding the black and brown stripes is a small but powerful step for inclusivity in the LGBTQA+ community.
Another design that has seen growing usage recently is the rainbow flag with a black circle and a raised fist inside, with multiple stripes representing multiple races. The meaning behind this flag is similar to the Philly Pride Flag, where it is meant to show more visibility and inclusion for people of color in the queer community.
Flag Meaning:
Black & Brown: Queer People of Color. Red: Life. Orange: Healing.
Yellow: Sunlight. Green: Nature. Blue: Harmony/Peace. Violet: Spirit.
Polyamorous Pride Flag
Polyamory: The ability to love multiple people and/or be involved in multiple relationships within the context of mutual consent.
History: The original polyamorous pride flag was created in the Pacific Northwest in early fall of 1995 by Jim Evans, who wanted to create an anonymous symbol for the polyamorous community that could be acknowledged and shared by those who knew the symbol. With the advent of the internet, people began to discover the flag, and it grew in popularity and use.
A modified version was created in Colorado in 2017 by the University of Northern Colorado Poly Community, one that has the infinity hearts symbol, a common symbol of the polyamorous community, instead of Evans' original pi symbol.
Flag Meaning:
Blue: Represents the openness and honesty of all parties involved in the relationships.Red: Represents love and passion. Black: Represents solidarity with those who must hide their polyamorous relationships from the outside world. Yellow: The value placed on emotional attachment to others. Infinity Heart Sign: Represents the infinite love for multiple partners at the same time.
Polysexual Pride Flag
Polysexual: Someone who is sexually attracted to multiple, but not all, genders.
Polyromantic: Someone who is romantically attracted to multiple, but not all, genders.
History: On July 11, 2012, a flag designed by a Tumblr user with the signature “Samlin” submitted or posted a design to the blog @f***yeahpolysexuality, explaining their design: “I, as a poly individual, was greatly saddened by the fact that we don’t have a flag…so I made one :P I made it similar to the bi and pan flags, since they’re all in under the multisexual umbrella. -Samlin”
The colors and design of the flag are based off the bisexual and pansexual flags, borrowing the blue and pink, and replacing the purple and yellow stripes with a green one.
Flag Meaning:
Pink: Represents attraction to female-identified people. Green: Represents attraction to people who identify outside the traditional male-female binary. Blue: Represents attraction to male-identified people.
Rainbow Pride Flag
LGBTQA+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning/Queer, Asexual, and all other identities that fall into the LGBTQA+ community.
History: The rainbow flag representing the LGBTQA+ community was created by Gilbert Baker, and first flown in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978. The original flag consisted of eight horizontal stripes, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo, and violet, but pink was removed after a year due to fabric shortages. It’s been rumored that Baker might have been emulating the song “Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland (one of the first gay icons), the Stonewall Riots, or based off a flag for world peace flown at campuses nationwide in the 1960’s.
Baker’s life changed when he met the first openly gay politician, Harvey Milk in 1974. Milk challenged Baker to come up with a symbol for the gay community in 1977. After Milk’s assassination on November 27, 1978, demands for the flag rapidly increased.
The rainbow flag has grown immensely in visibility and acceptance and is now widely accepted as the predominant symbol for the LGBTQA+ community. Also in June 2015, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) acquired the original flag. Gilbert Baker died on March 31, 2017, but his legacy will always live on.
Flag Meaning:
Red: Life. Orange: Healing. Yellow: Sunlight. Green: Nature. Blue: Harmony/Peace. Violet: Spirit.
Transgender Pride Flag
Transgender: People whose gender identity doesn’t align with the sex they were assigned at birth.
History: The transgender pride flag was created in 1999 by Monica Helms, a transgender navy veteran, and first flown at a pride parade in Phoenix in 2000. The design and colors were carefully chosen by Helms. That first flag she created now flies at the Smithsonian Natural Museum of American History. Since its debut in 2000, the trans pride flag has grown to be the prevailing symbol of the transgender community. It was flown in San Francisco’s Castro District on the November 19, 2012, in honor of Transgender Day of Remembrance. It was also displayed in the White House during Pride Month in June 2016.
Flag Meaning:
Light Blue: Represents the traditional color for boys. Light Pink: Represents the traditional color for girls. White: Represents those who are intersex, transitioning, or see themselves as having a neutral or undefined gender.