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Still More Variations of the Gay Pride Rainbow Flag (4)

Sexual Orientation Flags

Last modified: 2024-01-13 by randy young
Keywords: rainbow flag | stripes: 6 | people of color | transgender and people of color |
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Rainbow Flag for People of Color

[Rainbow flag for people of color]
image by Tomislav Todorović, 27 July 2018

The rainbow flag with added black and brown stripes (at the top, above the red stripe) was first hoisted in Philadelphia on 8 June 20171,2, as part of a campaign named More Color More Pride2,3, which was aimed to turn public attention to the issues specific for LGBT "people of color" (of African and/or Latino origin), who often face neglect and even racism even within the LGBT community. The new flag had produced the whole range of reactions4,5,6,7,8: the opponents of the idea insisted that the rainbow colors are already a complete symbol of inclusion, so black and brown stripes were unnecessary, or even divisive, while its supporters thought that not only the addressed issues are real, but also found the others to point out, such as the pronounced homophobia among the people of color themselves. As the polls revealed8, LGBT people were rather divided over the new flag, the level of support varying in different sub-groups of the population, LGBT people of color being nearly evenly divided themselves. Regardless of all opinions, the flag did catch on and was used in Philadelphia in 2018 again9, as well as in other places, such as Washington, DC10 and Athens, Ohio11. All of these examples, as well as many others12, reveal that the shades of rainbow colors vary a lot on this flag as well, and so does the shade of brown (the shades used in the presented image are the approximations of those seen in the photos of original flag).
Tomislav Todorović, 27 July 2018
Sources:
1: Philly Gay Calendar at Twitter - Post on 8 June 2017
2: GayWrites blog - Post on 9 June 2017
3: CNN website - News report on 13 June 2017
4: LGBTQ Nation website
5: NBC News website
6: Gay San Diego website
7: BET.com website
8: BuzzFeed News website
9: Philly Gay Calendar at Twitter - Post on 24 July 2018
10: The DC Center for the LGBT Community at Twitter - Post on 8 June 2018
11: Ohio University website
12: #morecolormorepride photos at Twitter
In 2018, the flag use has spread outside the USA as well: in July, they were used at the pride parade in Mohali, India.
Tomislav Todorović, 23 October 2018
Source: Photo gallery from the July 2018 prida parade in Mohali

[Rainbow flag for people of color]
image by Tomislav Todorović, 16 February 2020

During further spreading outside the USA, this has also become one of the "no right side up" flags. The earliest currently verified occasion was the Toronto Pride Parade 2018, where the flag with reversed color order (purple at the top, black at the bottom) is clearly visible, but another one with the original order could also be seen in the background. [1] Still the original color order seems to prevail, having spread as such to the UK, where it was used in 2019 at the Cambridge Pride in June, [2] the Pride in London in July [3] and the Brighton Pride in August. [4] The flag was also used at the UK Black Pride 2019, which took place at Hackney, London, on 5 July 2019, [5,6] the reports from this event being important for defining the "people of color" in the broadest sense possible - African, Asian, Caribbean, Middle Eastern and Latin American origin, all of whom seem to have been present, according to the photos.

The flag has also become popular is East Timor, the two additional stripes' symbolism clearly being something that local LGBT population easily came to identify with. It has been used since the first Timor-Leste Pride in 2017 [7]. The available sources from that occasion [7] do not allow telling which side of flag is up, for it was hoisted vertically, but in 2018, it seems to have been used with the black at the bottom only, [8,9] which seems to be even more true for Timor-Leste Pride 2019, [10] with many photos of such flags taken, but none with the black at the top, while ordinary Rainbow Flags are flown in both ways, although those with red at the top seem to prevail.
Tomislav Todorović, 16 February 2020
Sources:
[1] – Flickr - Photo from Toronto Pride Parade on 24 June 2018: https://flickr.com/photos/ttc8100/29132712968/
[2] – Flickr - Photo from Cambridge Pride on 8 June 2019: https://flickr.com/photos/mangakamaidenphotography/48300920947/
[3] – Flickr - Photo from Pride in London on 6 July 2019: https://flickr.com/photos/mikepaws/48216767572/
[4] – Flickr - Photo from Brighton Pride on 3 August 2019: https://flickr.com/photos/mangakamaidenphotography/48617181992/
[5] – Hackney Gazette website: https://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/haggerston-park-hosts-uk-black-pride-2019-1-6149248
[6] – Gay Star News website: https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/photos-uk-black-pride-2019/
[7] – East Timor Law & Justice Bulletin website: https://www.easttimorlawandjusticebulletin.com/2017/09/does-gay-marriage-vote-in-australia.html
[8] – The Equality Institute website: http://www.equalityinstitute.org/blog/making-way-for-pride-in-timor-leste
[9] – Gay Star News website: https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/here-are-the-21-best-photos-from-east-timors-second-pride-parade/
[10] – Timor-Leste Pride at Facebook - Photo album from Timor-Leste Pride 2019: https://www.facebook.com/pg/MarsaDiversidade/photos/?tab=album&album_id=2297172613875573

The flag use is also spreading among the Native Americans as well. The first community whi ch is verified to use it is the Navajo Nation, who hoisted it at Window Rock, Arizona, on 28-29 June 2019 during the first Diné Pride. The photo, which displays the flag flying together with that of the Navajo Nation, the "ordinary" six-striped Rainbow Flag and several other LGBT-related flags, can be viewed here: https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2019/07/11/738099923/navajo-nations-lgbtq-pride-event-celebrates-a-return-to-the-culture-s-history (image: https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2019/07/02/dinepride-52_custom-1d3ae4aca5cdcf5bdc94a8f8e2ff51d093f1bb2c-s1300-c85.jpg). More photos from the same event, taken from various angles, can be viewed at the Diné Pride photo gallery at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/NavajoNationPride/photos/?ref=page_internal.
Tomislav Todorović, 11 March 2020

Another country in which the flag has been adopted is Germany, where it was used at the Dyke March Berlin 2019.[1,2,3]

In the UK, while the flag had already been used at Manchester Pride 2018,[4,5,6] it was elevated to the status of official flag of the Manchester Pride 2019.[7] The flag was indeed widely used, mostly with black at the top,[8,9,10,11,12,13] sometimes with the reversed color order.[14] Expectedly, it did not completely replace the "generic" Rainbow Flag, both flags having been often used together.[9,12,14] The 8-striped Rainbow Flag, also present at the event, was also used together with it.[9,11]
Tomislav Todorović, 20 August 2020
Sources:
[1] Wikimedia Commons — Photo from Dyke March Berlin on 26 July 2019: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dyke_March_Berlin_2019_106.jpg
[2] Wikimedia Commons — Photo from Dyke March Berlin on 26 July 2019: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dyke_March_Berlin_2019_108.jpg
[3] Wikimedia Commons — Photo from Dyke March Berlin on 26 July 2019: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dyke_March_Berlin_2019_114.jpg
[4] Flickr — Photo from Manchester Pride on 24 August 2018: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chorltondave/30393222628/
[5] Flickr — Photo from Manchester Pride on 25 August 2018: https://www.flickr.com/photos/163263407@N08/44038005215/
[6] Flickr — Photo from Manchester Pride on 25 August 2018: https://www.flickr.com/photos/aawais/43391032145/
[7] Gay Star News website: https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/manchester-pride-new-rainbow-flag/#gs.bv2qGsBy
[8] Flickr — Photo from Manchester Pride on 24 August 2019: https://www.flickr.com/photos/46122435@N05/48631016288/
[9] Flickr — Photo from Manchester Pride on 24 August 2019: https://www.flickr.com/photos/possbruce/48612517913/
[10] Flickr — Photo from Manchester Pride on 24 August 2019: https://www.flickr.com/photos/trambo/48616670987/
[11] Flickr — Photo from Manchester Pride on 24 August 2019: https://www.flickr.com/photos/trambo/48616175003/
[12] Flickr — Photo from Manchester Pride (creation date not specified, uploaded om 3 September 2019): https://www.flickr.com/photos/gclintonlindop/48674099412/
[14] Flickr — Photo from Manchester Pride (creation date not specified, uploaded om 3 September 2019): https://www.flickr.com/photos/gclintonlindop/48673860482/
[Rainbow flag for people of color]
image by Tomislav Todorović, 11 March 2020

The addition of black and brown stripes to the Rainbow Flag has inspired a more complex design which is also intended to present "people of color": six-striped Rainbow Flag, with red at the top, bearing a large black disk in center (diameter only slightly smaller than the flag width) charged with a large fist in six colors of human skin, arranged from the lightest (close to a typical European-Caucasian skin color) at the top to the darkest (very dark brown, a typical Negroid skin color) at the bottom.The positions of partition lines within the fist correspond to those between the rainbow colors. The design, which is usually called QPOC Pride Flag (QPOC = Queer People of Color), still mostly appears as the Web graphics, however several photos are also available online. These mostly appear at the online shops like this: https://www.amazon.com/QPOC-Pride-Flag-3x5-Foot/dp/B07F1KVS5J, but the flag use is also verified, for it was carried at the San Francisco Pride 2019, which took place on 29-30 June. The report from the event being available here: https://news.yahoo.com/scenes-2019-pride-parade-celebration-041146247.html (photo: https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/bouFWurpJ3T2b7VrVC45ag--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNQ--/https://media.zenfs.com/en/hoodline_545/94b74924a47d78d0bdf19d38a6bafd39). A much better view of the flag is provided by a photo available here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/32029534@N00/48498398707, which was taken on 29 July 2019 at an unspecified location, but the tags associated with the photo, as well as the groups to which it has been added, reveal that it was in San Francisco area.
Tomislav Todorović, 11 March 2020

Another recorded appearance of the flag was in Montgomery, Alabama, in June 2019 at Montgomery Pride.
Tomislav Todorović, 13 December 2021
Source: Montgomery Pride United website: https://montgomeryprideunited.org/our-story
(Photo: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cae2e1b0490797265615eb3/1587436967611-6M579IC70VWD5RVV7ZSI/mgm-pride-17.jpg)

The most recent recorded appearance which is currently known is from Huntington, West Virginia, where the flag appeared at Huntington Pride on 6 June 2020.
Tomislav Todorović, 13 December 2021
Source: The Herald-Dispatch newspaper website: https://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/pride-events-return-to-huntington/article_20110b35-53cf-55f1-b7df-96e5773a211b.html
(Photo: https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/herald-dispatch.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/d/bd/dbdf21b7-d258-523a-8cd7-54b20a11cda0/5fefdb73d799d.image.jpg)

The flag has also been appearing at Black Lives Matter protests, such as those which took place in Hampton, Virginia, on 10 July 2021. [1] The flag's use has been spreading outside the USA as well. In Germany, it was used in Berlin at the Christopher Street Day demonstration on 23 July 2022. The photos from the event are available in the sources listed below. [2,3,4,5]
Tomislav Todorović, 25 October 2022
Sources:
[1] - Daily Press newspaper website: https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-nw-blm-757-community-violence-protest-20210711-26o4sbp4inctpfqoyg37zyotfm-story.html (photo: https://www.dailypress.com/resizer/tgHUJuFMWtyJLTGtd5xFeFTzve4=/800x0/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/MI5Y674FOJGATMSYJRM3CUBGOM.jpg)
[2] - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christopher_Street_Day_Berlin_2022-07-23_60.jpg
[3] - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christopher_Street_Day_Berlin_2022-07-23_61.jpg
[4] - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christopher_Street_Day_Berlin_2022-07-23_62.jpg
[5] - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christopher_Street_Day_Berlin_2022-07-23_64.jpg

[Rainbow flag for people of color]
photograph found by Esteban Rivera, 10 April 2023

There seems to be an additional variant featuring a black closed fist facing towards the fly with an inscription in the bottom purple stripe, in white lettering reading something like "international socialist" and below the website's URL socialistworker.org. The online article is dated 4 July 2018 and its file name indicates it was taken on the Brooklyn Bridge.
Esteban Rivera, 10 April 2023
Sources:
  • https://socialistworker.org/
  • https://socialistworker.org/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/images/2018/07/dsc0302-iso_banner_on_the_brooklyn_bridge-a.jpg
  • https://socialistworker.org/2018/07/04/getting-organized-for-a-socialist-future
    •

    Rainbow Flag for Transgender and People of Color

    [Rainbow flag for transgender and people of color]
    image by Tomislav Todorović, 28 July 2018

    On 1 June 2018, a newly created flag was raised in Seattle to mark the beginning of the Pride Month. It combines the Rainbow Flag with the transgender flag by Monica Helms from which the three stripes in pale blue, pink and white are added above the rainbow stripes, and adds the black and brown stripes to the flag top to represent the people of color, as used on the flag introduced in Philadelphia in June 2017. The flag thus created is intended to symbolize the inclusion of the largest variety of identities. As its photos reveal, the ratio matched that of the USA national flag.
    Tomislav Todorović, 28 July 2018
    Sources:
    1. Capitol Hill Seattle Blog
    2. Seattle Gay Scene website
    3. Seattle Gay News website

    The flag reappeared in Kansas City, Missouri, in August 2021 during the Kansas City Pride. The photo from the event is available here: https://www.kcmo.gov/city-hall/pride#ad-image-17. (large image: https://www.kcmo.gov/home/showpublishedimage/6412/637623937789730000)
    Tomislav Todorović, 8 February 2022

    The use of the flag is spreading outside the USA as well: in August 2022, it was seen in Vancouver, Canada, at the Vancouver Pride Parade.
    Tomislav Todorović, 18 October 2022
    Source: https://flickr.com/photos/claytonperry/52267656427/

    Prior to the Vancouver Pride Parade, the flag was used in Canada in Winnipeg in June 2022, at the Pride Winnipeg Festival.
    Tomislav Todorović, 26 December 2022
    Source: Photo from the Pride Winnipeg Festival at Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pride_Sunday_in_Winnipeg_(52125250589).jpg

    Although a modified arrangement of colors was introduced in 2023 [see below], this design was not abandoned; it was used, for example, at the Calgary Pride 2023. [1,2]
    Tomislav Todorović, 19 November 2023
    Sources:
    [1] Flickr - Photo from Calgary Pride, on 3 September 2023: https://www.flickr.com/photos/zakna/53165687250/
    [2] Flickr - Photo from Calgary Pride, on 3 September 2023: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bencito_traveller/53215756487/

    [Rainbow flag for transgender and people of color variant]
    image by Tomislav Todorović, 19 November 2023

    In 2023, another variant of the flag with 11 horizontal stripes was introduced. There, pale blue, pink and white stripes were at the top, followed by black, brown and rainbow (red to purple) stripes. The earliest recorded appearance of the design was at the Toronto Pride in June, [1] followed by the San Francisco Pride shortly afterwards, [2,3] and the Calgary Pride in September. [4,5] The color shades varied somewhat, but were generally lighter than on the flag with the reversed position of black and brown and the transgender colors, which was, for example, also used in Calgary [see above].
    Tomislav Todorović, 19 November 2023
    Sources:
    [1] Flickr - Photo from Toronto Pride, on 24 June 2023: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rainersoegtrop/53016046861/
    [2] Flickr - Photo from San Francisco Pride, on 25 June 2023: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougsf/53002022309/
    [3] Flickr - Photo from San Francisco Pride, on 25 June 2023: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougsf/53002022264/
    [4] Flickr - Photo from Calgary Pride, on 3 September 2023: https://www.flickr.com/photos/zakna/53165423084/
    [5] Flickr - Photo from Calgary Pride, on 3 September 2023: https://www.flickr.com/photos/zakna/53164648587/

    [New Pride Rainbow flag for transgender and people of color]
    image by Tomislav Todorović, 22 August 2020

    Another flag with the same symbolism was created in 2018, not long after the Progress Pride Flag as a reaction to its creation. The designer is artist Julia Feliz, a LGBTI person of Puerto Rican origin, who was concerned that the Progress Pride Flag might be exploiting the design of the flag of Puerto Rico, with dubious benefits for the people it is supposed to represent.[1,2] In order to correct that, the new design is parted diagonally from bottom hoist to top fly, the rainbow stripes (red at the top) occupying the bottom half, while the top half is parted diagonally as well, with the top hoist corner in white, followed by pink, light blue, brown and black stripes, thus presenting an intersection of Trans and Rainbow Flags, with centered symbols of the People of Color.[1,2] The Feliz' design, called the Trans Queer PoC New Pride Flag, or simply, the New Pride Flag, has quickly come into use, in the USA as well as other countries;[3] it was used in 2019 as well, the locations having included the UK, where it was made the official flag of Brighton and Hove Pride 2019 [4] and much used at these Pride events,[5,6] and the Netherlands, where it was used at Amsterdam Pride.[7] There are also examples of the flag pattern being used as a part of the demonstration posters, as was done at the Dyke March Berlin 2019.[8,9,10] Regarding the accusations about the Progress Pride Flag, its designer Daniel Quasar has stated that any similarity is "entirely coincidental and unintenional" and supported the creation of new flag regardless, saying: "The more flags, the more discussion, the better."[2]
    Tomislav Todorović, 22 August 2020
    Sources:
    [1] New Pride Flag website - Mission: https://www.newprideflag.com/mission/
    [2] Gay Star News website: https://www.gaystarnews.com/article/new-pride-flag-trans-people-of-color/
    [3] New Pride Flag website - Gallery: https://www.newprideflag.com/world/
    [4] The Argus newspaper website - News report on 2 August 2019: https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/17808593.new-colours-pride-flag-celebrate-black-trans-activists/
    [5] The Argus newspaper website - News report on 25 August 2019: https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/17858241.pride-big-success-will-get-even-betternext-year/
    [6] Flickr - Photo from Brighton Pride on 3 August 2019: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mangakamaidenphotography/48617145707/
    [7] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from Amsterdam Pride on 3 August 2019: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Amsterdam_Pride_Canal_Parade_2019_05.jpg
    [8] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from Dyke March Berlin on 26 July 2019: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dyke_March_Berlin_2019_325.jpg
    [9] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from Dyke March Berlin on 26 July 2019: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dyke_March_Berlin_2019_326.jpg
    [10] Wikimedia Commons - Photo from Dyke March Berlin on 26 July 2019: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dyke_March_Berlin_2019_334.jpg