How the Rainbow Flag Became a Symbol of LGBTQ Pride

In late ‘70s San Francisco, the nascent Gay Rights Movement was in full swing. Without a symbol to rally around, the diverse group of activists navigated the treacherous political climate with no beacon. That’s where artist Gilbert Baker came in. Baker’s iconic rainbow flag design not only filled a void, it quickly became a global symbol of LGBTQ unity and solidarity.

This Great Big Story was inspired by Genesis.

Got a story idea for us? Shoot us an email at hey [at] GreatBigStory [dot] com

[jontuxen]

I miss when Rainbow color supposed to be a beautiful phenomenon not a symbol...

[anthon]

I can't imagine kids getting bullied for liking a *rainbow*

[cynthia]

"Ugh, I hate how the LGBT took the rainbow from the heteros". Yea, I totally feel u guys. I hate it when people steal from a scientific phenomenon that happens outside of human control, created through reflection, refraction, and dispersion.

[SANDWICHvanquish]

Now you can't make characters with rainbow on them without people claiming it _GAY_

[megatyraj]

This flag was originally Gods covenant to never send a flood again

[cheeseparadise]

Ah, i remember those times when the rainbow was actually good

[jesuslover]

its so true that the sin of man turned what's beautiful into wickedness.

[TheRainydayvideo]

I always wondered how the flag came about. What a beautiful lil doc.

[jasonmckenzie]

technicalky speaking it's not a rainbow cause it only consists of 6 colors. Just fyi

[regularguy]

The title should be how the rainbow became ruined for everybody else.

[AustinForbis]

when I was young I used to like rainbow but now its sus

[flexarnn]

1:46 Im more interested in finding out how in the holy name of fuck they managed to make that enormous flag/banner O_O

[パステル猫-zy]

I honestly dislike that they used the rainbow. Like the rainbow was a happy and nice color and now no one can really wear anything rainbow without it being related to lgbtq. Like one time I saw this fan at dollar tree and it was a rainbow. I thought it was pretty so I asked if I could get it and my mom said no because it was being used as a pride fan. Same with those rainbow parachutes that were always used at school. People now use them as a flag or banner.

[ItsGroundhogDay]

The city of Philadelphia just got done changing the rainbow flag because it is not inclusive enough. They added the colors black and brown to it, even though the original flag already represented all gay people, regardless of skin color.

[darkrust]

When you realize the flags lines are straight 😂😂😂

[whitetigeryt]

I support LGBT. But I find it so dull that every rainbow now is considered a sign of LGBT. I cant draw a rainbow without being asked if I am gay. If a child draws a rainbow he is gay. If he likes rainbows he is gay. Why?

[lancerebosa]

*The Leprechauns want to know your location*

[goldthorn]

What annoyed me the most is I can't wear anything with rainbow on it now apparently. Not because i'm homophobic. As long as you don't shove your view down my throat, i'm cool. It's because some of the lgbtq+ people keep harassing me that i can't wear it because I'm not part of the community. I'm like wtf.

[MinaDKSBMSB]

Kid wanted the rainbow cupcake so bad. What a shame that they associate this beautiful symbol to further a lustful, hateful, and obviously God-provoking agenda.

[ChronicallyCurious]

Does anyone remember when purple was supposedly the unofficial color? And anyone, especially guys, that wore it "too much" at school started getting heckled and "suspected" because of it? I'm usually an optimist, but that taught me an important lesson early. People suck.