SYMBOLS OF PRIDE

The rainbow pride flag was designed in San Francisco in 1978 by artist Gilbert Baker. Baker said he was asked by Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California, to create a symbol for the gay community. The first versions of the flag were flown in the 1978 Gay Freedom Day parade in San Francisco.

Riots in New York

The parade was inspired by the events that took place at New York City’s Stonewall Inn in 1969. The inn was owned by the Genovese family, a Mafia organization, and was an unlicensed dance club and bar. In the 1960s police raids on gay bars in New York were frequent. Before the raid on the inn, several other gay clubs were shut down.

The Stonewall Inn was a gathering place with a young crowd, and when the police showed up in force to raid it, a mob started a riot. The clash with police included several thousand people at times and continued over six days.

The incident became well known and within months, several gay organizations and pro-gay newspapers were started. The next year the first gay pride marches were held in New York to mark the anniversary of the Stonewall Inn riots, with simultaneous marches in Los Angeles and Chicago.

There have been many versions of the rainbow flag. The original design was said to have as many as eight colors and included pink and turquoise.

Variations of the flag have included black and brown to represent minorities. Since the pride flag was first flown, versions for a transgender flag, a bisexual flag, a gender fluid flag and others have been created.

The pride flag

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