The LGBTQ+ community is a very diverse group made up of beautiful people of all shapes, sizes, colors and preferences.And for years the Rainbow Pride Flag has been acknowledged as the sole symbol of the queer community as a whole. But over the past couple years, we’ve seen the acronym LGBTQ add new letters and subsequently labels, including I for Intersex and A for Asexual. As a result, sub-groups within the queer community have created their own individual flags we often see present at pride events. But what do those flags look like and what do their colors mean?
To help you better understand the community you are apart of, as we all celebrate Pride Month, we’ve created a guide to the twelve most common flags used within LGBTQIA+ community below.
Progress Pride Flag
Created by Daniel Quasar in 2018, this take on the original Rainbow Pride Flag is more inclusive of race and tran issues by adding their flag colors to the overall design.
Rainbow Pride Flag
The most commonly used symbols of the pride community, the Rainbow Pride Flag was created in 1978 by artist Gilbert Baker and represents social equality and individuality.
Lesbian Pride Flag
The Lesbian Pride Flag has gone through some changes, with the orginally being created in 1999, followed up a re-design in 2010, and the most recent verison being introduced in 2018 by Tumblr blogger Emily Gwen. The seven stripes represent 'gender non-conformity' (dark orange), 'independence' (orange), 'community' (light orange), 'unique relationships to womxnhood' (white) , 'serenity and peace' (pink), 'love and sex' (dusty pink), and 'femininity' (dark rose).
Bisexual Pride Flag
Michael Page created the Bisexual Pride Flag in 1998, explaining that the pink represents sexual attraction the same sex, the blue represents sexual attraction to the opposite sex and the overlap of the two, the purple, represents attraction to both sexes.
Pansexual Pride Flag
Introduced into our community in 2010 on Tumblr, the pink in the Pansexual Pride Flag represents an attraction to womxn, the blue represents an attraction to men and the yellow represents being attracted to everyone else, like those who identify as non-binary, agender, bigender or genderfluid.
Transgender Pride Flag
Created by transgender womxn Monica Helms in 1999, the light blue stripes are the traditional color for baby boys, the pink strips are the traditional color of baby girls and the white stripe is for people that are nonbinary. Monica explained that the flag pattern is designed in such a way that no matter how you fly it, it’s always correct for whoever is holding it.
Non-Binary Pride Flag
The Non-BInary Pride Flag was created in 2014 by activist Kye Rowan. It has been explained that each stripe on the flag represents different types of non-binary identities, including androgyny, genderqueerness, third gender and transgender. The yellow stripe represents those who identify outside of the gender binary, the white stripe is for non-binary people with multiple genders, the purple stripe represents those with a mixture of both male and fem*le genders and the black stripe is for those who identify as agender.
Asexual Pride Flag
Created in 2010 as part of a community-led initiative, the black stripe represents asexuality, the gray stripe represents asexuals and demisexuals, the white stripe represents allis and the purple strip represents community.
Gender Queer Pride Flag
Designed in 2010 by Marilyn Roxie, the purple stripe represents individuals who identify as androgynes or queer, the white strip represents indviduals who identify as agender and the green stripe represents those who identities are defined outside of and without reference to binary.
Gender Fluid Pride Flag
Created in 2012 by JJ Poole, the pink stripe represents femininity; the white stripe represents the lack of gender; the purple stripe represents the combination of masculinity and femininity including various degrees of androgyny; the black stripe represents all other gender, third genders and pangender; and the blue stripe represents masculinity.
Agender Pride Flag
The Agender Pride Flag was created by Salem X in 2014, and the black and white stripes represents the absence of gender, the gray stripe represents semi-genderlessness and the central green stripe represents non-binary genders.
Intersex Pride Flag
Created in 2014 by Oll Australia, the Intersex Pride Flag utlizes yellow and purple, which are considered hermaphrodite colors. The purple central circle is unbroken and unornamented to symbolize wholeness and completeness.
Written by: Ashley Clark
Photo Credit: news.booking.com