Gilbert Baker Pride

In 1978, many members of the queer activist community, including Harvey Milk, asked Gilbert Baker to create a new flag for that year’s Gay Freedom Day celebration. Baker, co-head of the Decoration Committee for the event and already famous for his incredible textile skills, took the task head on and created a symbol for the gay liberation movement. The original eight stripes contained potent symbolism: pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for the sun, green for nature, turquoise for art and magic, blue for serenity, and purple for the spirit. 

This version of the flag persisted until the late 70s, when supply issues caused the Paramount Flag Company, where Baker worked, to remove the pink stripe when they began to mass produce the flags. Later Baker changed the flag again, combining the turquoise and blue stripes to create a six stripe flag suitable for splitting in half to decorate street lights down a parade route. This created the gay pride flag most commonly used to this day.