Pride Month is here. It's a time to celebrate the diversity and joy within the LGBTQ+ community, a time for parades, parties, activism and learning.
Pride flags are as numerous as the identities encompassed in the LGBTQ+ acronym. Some represent different sexualities, others are for gender identity and some are updates to the original rainbow design meant to add more inclusive elements or honor marginalized communities.
Whether you’re an ally or a member of the community, here’s your guide to popular pride flags.
How many pride flags are there?
There are dozens of pride flags, some more well-known than others. The Human Rights Campaign, a hub for LGBTQ+ resources, lists 25 pride flags, including intersectionality and progress designs. However, there may be even more than this figure, as artists and activists continue to create new designs that more accurately represent their identities.
Here are some of the most common ones you may see flying this June:
Pride flag
Perhaps the most common LGBTQ+ pride flag, the original rainbow flag, has six colors that altogether symbolize hope. The individual colors also each have meaning – read more to discover what each color represents.
Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California, challenged activist Gilbert Baker to create a symbol for the gay community in the 1970s. The result was the first rainbow pride flag, which originally had eight stripes instead of six.
Philadelphia Pride flag
Introduced by Amber Hikes and the Philadelphia Office of LGBT Affairs in 2017, this version is an updated pride flag with black and brown stripes above the original rainbow colors. Here’s what those new colors represent.
Progress Pride flag
The Progress Pride flag is a reimagined take on the traditional pride flag. It has the rainbow flag’s six colors but layers a black, brown, blue, pink and white stripe in a chevron design.
The Philadelphia Pride flag inspired artist Daniel Quasar to create a new flag that emphasized “the current needs within our community.” Read more to discover the significance of the colors and design.
Lesbian flag
There are several pride flags to represent the lesbian community, but the most widely used is the orange and pink flag. In 2018, a new seven-stripe design was created to represent independence, community, femininity, gender non-conformity and other themes important to the lesbian community. Here’s what each color symbolizes on the flag.
Bisexual flag
The bisexual pride flag has three stripes – pink, purple and blue. Michael Page created the flag in 1998 as a rallying symbol for the bi community, historically underrepresented in the larger LGBTQ+ community.
He was inspired by the "Bi-Angles" symbol, one of the first symbols of bi-visibility with two overlapping blue and pink triangles. Here’s what each color represents.
Pansexual flag
The pansexual pride flag has three horizontal stripes – one hot pink, one yellow and one blue. It was designed to bring awareness to the pansexual community and further distinguish it from bisexuality. The two identities overlap in nuanced ways but are not interchangeable.
Here's what each color of the pansexual flag represents.
Transgender flag
The transgender pride flag has five stripes with alternating pink, blue and white stripes. The flag’s symmetry symbolizes that“no matter which way you fly it, it is always correct, signifying us finding correctness in our lives,” according to creator Monica Helms. Here’s why each of the three colors is distinctly important to the trans community.
Intersex flag
The intersex pride flag is yellow with a purple circle in the middle. The circle represents “wholeness and completeness, and our potentialities,” the flag’s creator, Morgan Carpenter, wrote. Read more about what this symbol means to the intersex community.
Similarly, the Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride flag adds the yellow and purple symbol on top of the Progress Pride flag’s design.
Asexual flag
The asexual pride flag is the result of a contest hosted by the Asexual Visibility and Education Network. The winning design has black, gray, white and purple stripes, each representing parts of the asexual spectrum and important elements like community, partners and allies. Read more about what the asexual flag represents here.
Nonbinary flag
The nonbinary flag has four stripes, yellow, white, purple and black. Each represents the diverse and unique experiences of those who identify as nonbinary, or individuals who don’t identify exclusively as male or female. Here’s a deeper look into the flag’s origin and meaning.
Genderqueer flag
The genderqueer pride flag was created to represent the interrelated identities of this community, which rejects conventional gender categories in favor of fluidity. Check out this deeper dive into what the white and dark green represent, plus why the lavender stripe is an important queer symbol.
Gender-fluid flag
The gender-fluid pride flag was created in 2012 as a symbol of the fluidity of identity and expression. The five stripes, colored pink, white, purple, black and blue, represent different places on the spectrum of gender identity. Here’s what each color means.
Learn each letter:Breaking down the history, meaning of LGBTQ
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