Gay / Homosexual flag

Used on: Gay / Homosexual

Gay / Homosexual pride flag with its characteristic coloured stripes.

Designer: Gilbert Baker · 1978

Designed for the 1978 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade at the request of Harvey Milk.

Stripe HEX RGB CMYK Pantone Meaning
1 #FD69B3 253,105,179 C:0 M:58 Y:29 K:1 n/a Sexuality
2 #FF0000 255,0,0 C:0 M:100 Y:100 K:0 n/a Life
3 #FF8D07 255,141,7 C:0 M:45 Y:97 K:0 n/a Healing
4 #FFFC06 255,252,6 C:0 M:1 Y:98 K:0 n/a Sunlight
5 #038D00 3,141,0 C:98 M:0 Y:100 K:45 n/a Nature
6 #00C2C2 0,194,194 C:100 M:0 Y:0 K:24 n/a Magic and art
7 #400379 64,3,121 C:47 M:98 Y:0 K:53 n/a Serenity
8 #8E010D 142,1,13 C:0 M:99 Y:91 K:44 n/a Spirit

History

Baker was a gay activist, artist, and drag performer in San Francisco. He was commissioned by Harvey Milk to design a symbol for the gay community for the 1978 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. Baker and 30 volunteers hand-dyed and hand-sewed the original 8-stripe flag. It was first flown on June 25, 1978, at United Nations Plaza, San Francisco.

For the 1979 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade the flag was adapted into 6 stripes: hot pink was dropped (the fabric was not commercially available), and turquoise and indigo were merged into royal blue, producing the 6-stripe flag in universal use today.

Baker continued designing flags and community art until his death on March 31, 2017. He died just weeks before a planned display of his 9-stripe Rainbow Flag at the UN.