Gay heart flag

You might be familiar with the six-colored rainbow flag that is widely used to represent the LGBTQ+ community. But did you know that this is a relatively new rendition of the original? 

The original flag (shown here) was designed by activist, veteran, drag queen, and artist, Gilbert Baker, and made its debut at the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade in 1978. He was inspired by the Rolling Stones lyric She’s a Rainbow, and the 1960s hippies movement, assigning each color with a specific meaning:

  • Pink: Sex (later removed)

  • Red: Life

  • Orange: Healing

  • Yellow: Sunlight

  • Green: Nature

  • Turquoise: Magic (later removed)

  • Indigo: Serenity

  • Violet: Spirit 

The evolution to the six-colored flag used today happened out of practicality. 

After the parade in 1978, demand for the Pride Flag increased, but the hot pink fabric was complex to find in large quantities. Then, the Paramount Flag Company started making a version out of the standard rainbow colors to help meet demand, and a seven-color pride flag was the new norm.


Leather Pride flag


Bondage, domination and sado-masochism




image by M. Schmöger and António Martins, 31 March 2005
See also:

Origin and usage of the flag

Creator
Tony DeBlase, 1989
First Presented
International Mr. Leather Competition, Chicago 1989
Reason
20th Anniversary of Stonewall
Meaning or symbolism
The creator «leaves it up to the individual» as to the symbolism and meaning. He gives none of his own.
David Hawks, 27 June 2000

The flag is composed of nine horizontal stripes of equal width. From the top and from the bottom, the stripes alternate black and royal blue. The central stripe is white. In the upper left quadrant of the flag is a large red heart. I will leave it to the viewer to interpret the colors and symbols.
Chris Zimmerman, 14 October 2000,
quoting from [dbl89]

The Leather Pride Flag is a symbol for the leather community, which encompasses those who are into leather, Levi’s, sado-masochism, bondage and domination, uniform, cowboys, rubber, and other fetishes. The flag was created by artist

.

.