On this day, 25 June 1978, the rainbow LGBT+ flag was first flown at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day march. The flag was designed by gay artist and army veteran Gilbert Baker (pictured in 2003), and the two flags flown were hand-dyed and stitched by 30 volunteers. The original design included eight coloured stripes: pink for sexuality, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sun, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for peace and purple for spirit.
More recently, many rainbow flags have added brown and black stripes, reflecting the particular oppression faced by Black and other LGBT+ people of colour. Others have added a triangle including blue, pink and white stripes to stress the inclusion of trans people, amidst efforts by the far right, supported by a small minority of the left (especially in Britain) to attack the rights won by trans people over decades of struggle.
This Pride month learn more LGBT+ history in our podcast series. In particular we’ve got episodes about the Stonewall rebellion and the first ever Pride the following year, about LGBT+ support for the UK miners’ strike in the 1980s, and an interview with queer sex workers who organised their workplace in the 1990s and 2000s: https://workingclasshistory.com/tag/lgbtq/ https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/2019769574874849/?type=3