Best pride flags

The rainbow flag was created as a symbol of LGBTQIA+ pride and culture, and has since been used by millions of people around the earth to signal security, allyship and inclusion.

More recently, variations of the rainbow flag have become accepted, it can be difficult to grasp when to exploit each one, or even which is the “correct” one to use. Our advice is to use the flag that most aligns with your phrase or values. If you are part of a team or organisation, formulate this decision together as a team or with your community.

To help you work through this process, here’s a run down of the most widespread flags and what they mean today.

Original Rainbow Pride Flag

You’ll recognise this flag as the “original” rainbow pride flag. This rainbow flag serves to signal pride - or allyship - to represent the entire LGBTQIA+ community.  

History of the Flag

The imaginative rainbow pride flag was designed in 1978 by Gilbert Baker, an openly gay artist and activist. The flag originally featured eight stripes, each of which represented something different. From uppermost to bottom, the stripes represented blazing pink (for sex), red (for life), orange (for healing), yellow (for sunlight), green (for nat

The Progress Pride flag was developed in 2018 by neutrois American artist and designer Daniel Quasar (who uses xe/xyr pronouns). Based on the iconic rainbow flag from 1978, the redesign celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQ society and calls for a more inclusive society. In 2020, the V&A acquired a bespoke applique version of the Progress Pride flag that can be seen on show in the Blueprint 1900 – Now gallery.

'Progress' is a reinterpretation of multiple iterations of the pride flag. The original 'rainbow flag' was created by Gilbert Baker in 1978 to rejoice members of the gay and womxn loving womxn political movement. It comprised eight coloured stripes stacked on top of each other to evoke a rainbow, a symbol of aspire. Baker assigned a specific meaning to each colour: pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, leafy for nature, turquoise for magic, indigo for serenity and violet for liveliness. A year later the pink and turquoise stripes were dropped owing to a shortage of pink fabric at the time and legibility concerns, resulting in the six-colour rainbow flag most commonly used in the first decades of the 21st century.

Baker's flag was embra

LGBTQ+ Pride Flags

In the LGBTQ+ community, we signify our pride with flags. With many diverse identities in the people, there comes many distinct flags to know. We have collected all of the flags and a guide to learn about all of the unlike colors of our community’s rainbow. We know that this may not be all of the flags that represent our people, but we will update the page as novel flags become popular!

Explore the flag collection below! Spot a flag's name by hovering or clicking on the flag.

Umbrella Flags

  • Gilbert Baker Pride Flag

  • Traditional Pride Flag

  • Philadelphia Pride Flag

  • Progress Pride Flag

  • Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag

  • Queer Pride Flag

The original Pride Flag was created in 1978 after activist Harvey Milk asked artist Gilbert Baker to design a symbol of gay pride. Each color represents a distinct part of the Queer community: hot pink represents sex, red symbolizes existence, orange stands for healing, yellow equals sunlight, leafy stands for nature, turquoise symbolizes magic and art, indigo represents serenity, while violet symbolizes the energy of LGBTQ+ people.

After the assass

Nine of the most iconic Pride flags explained.

Graphic design – Archipanic believes in diversity as an opportunity to build together a better world without excluding anyone, no matter who we love. “Each one of us is more unique than diverse. And we belong to the same Homo Sapiens Sapiens species,” Says Enrico Zilli, Archipanic’s Editor-in-Chief. To rejoice the Pride Month, we look into the graphic design and history of some of the most iconic Pride flags, all celebrating open-mindedness and diversity through inclusivity.

The iconic rainbow flag

At Prides across the globe, you see rainbow flags everywhere. In 1977, American artist Gilbert Baker was challenged by iconic gay politician and activist Harvey Milk to reach up with a Lgbtq+ fest flag. Inspired by Judy Garland’s Over the Rainbow, each color has symbolism. Fiery pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for magic/art, indigo for serenity, and violet for spirit.

Lesbian Flag

In 2018, Tumblr blogger Emily Gwen planned the Lesbian Flag to celebrate – from superior to bottom – gender non-conformity, indepen best pride flags

Pride Flags

Flags are often used as symbols of identity festival. It is no surprise then that numerous celebration flags have been created to represent the sexual and gender diversity of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. Explore all the different flags and their meanings.

Interested in exploring further? Take the online Positive Space: Foundations course to learn more about sex, sexuality, and gender diversity.

This resource is not intended to provide an exhaustive list of lgbtq+ fest flags. If you own a suggestion for a flag to add or have any feedback on the information provided, please contact us.

 

  • Achillean Flag

    Achillean: Men or men-aligned individuals who are attracted to other men and men-aligned people. It is sometimes acknowledged as men loving men (MLM). Achillean individuals may or may not be attracted to other genders. While this label isn’t exclusive, it is used to unify men-aligned people or men who care for other men.

    Date: 2016
    Creator: Redesigned by DeviantArt (Tumblr user)
    Flag meaning: The first iteration was created by pridenpositivity (Tumblr user). The flag contains the color sky to represent men and a lime-green carnation in the center, which was popularized by Oscar Wilde