Gilbert Baker · 19788 stripes · No symbol

Gay flag 8

The original eight-stripe rainbow flag designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978 for San Francisco's Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade, representing gay liberation and pride.

sexual-orientationhistoricalgeneral-pridehot pinkredorangeyellowgreenturquoisebluepurpleUSASan FranciscoCalifornia1970s

Designer

Gilbert Baker

Year Created

1978

First Flown

1978

Stripe Count

8 stripes

Colors & Meanings

hot pinkredorangeyellowgreenturquoiseblue

These colors represent important ideas connected to this flag and community.

History

The eight-stripe rainbow flag was designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978 for the Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade in San Francisco. Baker, a prominent LGBTQ+ activist and artist, hand-dyed and sewed the first flag using fabric from a local store. The original design featured eight horizontal stripes, each color carrying symbolic meaning: hot pink represented sexuality, red represented life, orange represented healing, yellow represented sunlight, green represented nature, turquoise represented magic and art, blue represented harmony, and purple represented spirit. This eight-stripe version became the first widely adopted pride flag and represented the gay liberation movement during a pivotal moment in LGBTQ+ history. The flag later evolved into the six-stripe version still used today after Baker removed the hot pink and turquoise stripes in 1979 to create a design that could be divided evenly for parades. The original eight-stripe design remains historically significant as the foundation of modern pride vexillology and continues to be flown at pride events and in LGBTQ+ spaces as a tribute to the movement's origins.