Pride Flags

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June, as we know is widely recognised as Pride month. Whether it's on corporate logos, social media banners, hanging from flagpoles, in windows, on cars or being flown during parades, The rainbow flag is everywhere but it is not the only flag that people in our community connect with.

Did you know that there are more than 20 different Pride Flags?

On this page we have compiled details on the flags you are most likely to see flown or worn during Southampton Pride. This is not an exhaustive list of all flags. If you see any flag that should be added to our page, or a piece of information on how one of the flags originated that doesn’t make sense or should be changed, please reach out to jay@southamptonpride.org

The Gilbert Baker Rainbow Flag (Third Iteration)

LGBTQA+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning/Queer, Asexual, and all other identities that fall into the LGBTQA+ community.

History: The rainbow flag representing the LGBTQA+ community was created by Gilbert Baker, and first flown in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978. The original flag consisted of eight horizontal stripes, pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo, and violet, but pink was removed after a year due to fabric shortages. It’s been rumored that Baker might have been emulating the song “Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland (one of the first gay icons), the Stonewall Riots, or based off a flag for world peace flown at campuses nationwide in the 1960’s.

Baker’s life changed when he met the first openly gay politician, Harvey Milk in 1974. Milk challenged Baker to come up with a symbol for the gay community in 1977. After Milk’s assassination on November 27, 1978, demands for the flag rapidly increased.

The rainbow flag has grown immensely in visibility and acceptance and is now widely accepted as the predominant symbol for the LGBTQA+ community. Also in June 2015, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) acquired the original flag. Gilbert Baker died on March 31, 2017, but his legacy will always live on.

Flag Meaning
Red: Life
Orange: Healing
Yellow: Sunlight
Green: Nature
Blue: Harmony/Peace
Violet: Spirit

The Progress Pride Flag (First Iteration)

LGBTQIA+: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning/Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and all other identities that fall into the LGBTQA+ community across the gender, sexuality, and romantic spectrums.

QPOC: Queer People of Color. Members of the Queer community who are also People of Color.

History: First created in 2018, the graphic artist Daniel Quasar designed Progress Pride Flag to highlight and honor Queer People of Color and the Transgender community. This flag has been adapted from the Baker Pride Flag (1978) also known as the “Retro 8” pride flag, and the Philadelphia Pride Flag (2017) which was introduced as a part of the city of Philadelphia’s “More Color More Pride” campaign.

Quasar kept the original rainbow flag six colors to honor their meaning with an addition of the Trans flag, Black, and Brown arrow that points to the right to signify forward movement within LGBTQ+ rights. Quasar states that, "This new design forces the viewer to reflect on their own feelings towards the original Pride flag and its meaning as well as the differing opinions on who that flag really represents, while also bringing into clear focus the current needs within our community."

Flag Meaning
Black and Brown: Black and Lantinx Queer Communities
Transgender Flag: Transgender Communities
Red: Life
Orange: Healing
Yellow: Sunlight
Green: Nature
Blue: Harmony/Peace
Violet: Spirit

The Bisexual Pride Flag

Bisexuality: The physical or romantic attraction to two genders.

History: The word “bisexual” comes from the Greek prefix “bi” meaning “two”. The bisexual pride flag was created in 1998 by Michael Page, to differentiate the community from the rainbow flag and the gay community. Page decided to create it after his time at BiNet USA, a nonprofit organization.

The flag was unveiled on December 5, 1998, at BiCafe’s (an early bisexual web site) 1st anniversary party.

Flag Meaning
Pink: Representing attraction to those of the same gender identity.
Purple: Representing attraction to two genders.
Blue: Representing attraction to those who identify as a different gender.

The Lesbian Pride Flag

Lesbian: A female-identified person who is attracted to other female-identified people.

History: The word “lesbian” literally means resident of the island Lesbos and became synonymous with women who like women in reference to the island’s most famous resident, Sappho, a female poet who wrote many love poems to other women around 600 BCE.

The use of the term “lesbian” can be traced to sometime in the 1800s. Before that, the term “sapphic” was used to refer to women who liked other women.

The word gained popularity as part of a movement in the late 1960s to differentiate themselves from gay men. There are many other variations of the lesbian flag, including ones specifically for butch lesbians and labrys lesbians.

Flag Meaning: The colors of red, purple, and pink represent traditionally feminine colors.

The Transgender Pride Flag

Transgender: People whose gender identity doesn’t align with the sex they were assigned at birth.

History: The transgender pride flag was created in 1999 by Monica Helms, a transgender navy veteran, and first flown at a pride parade in Phoenix in 2000. The design and colors were carefully chosen by Helms. That first flag she created now flies at the Smithsonian Natural Museum of American History. Since its debut in 2000, the trans pride flag has grown to be the prevailing symbol of the transgender community. It was flown in San Francisco’s Castro District on the November 19, 2012, in honor of Transgender Day of Remembrance. It was also displayed in the White House during Pride Month in June 2016.

Flag Meaning
Light Blue: Represents the traditional color for boys.
Light Pink: Represents the traditional color for girls.
White: Represents those who are intersex, transitioning, or see themselves as having a neutral or undefined gender.

The Asexual Pride Flag

Asexuality: The lack of sexual attraction to all genders.

History: The asexual flag came about after AVEN (Asexual Visibility and Education Network) held a contest on its forum boards to create a pride flag for those who identify as asexual. The winning design was posted on June 30, 2010 by AVEN user “standup”. The colors black, grey, white and purple, were chosen as the same ones that are a part of AVEN’s logo.

Asexuality includes a spectrum of many asexual identities under its umbrella.

Flag Meaning
Black: Asexuality
Grey: Grey-asexuality and demi-sexuality
White: Non-asexual partners and allies
Purple: Community

The Non-Binary Pride Flag

Non-Binary: People whose gender identity does not fit within the traditional male/female binary.

History: The Non-Binary Flag was created by Kyle Rowan in 2014. The four horizontal stripes of the colors- yellow, white, purple, and black are symbolic for Non-Binary peoples’ experience. This flag was not created with the intention to replace the Genderqueer flag, but to be flown alongside it.

Flag Meaning
Yellow: Represents those whose gender falls outside of and without reference to the binary.
White: Represents people with many or all genders.
Purple: Represents those whose gender identity falls somewhere between male/female or is a mix of them.
Black: Represents people who feel they are without a gender

The Pansexual Pride Flag

Pansexuality: The attraction to people regardless of their gender identity.

History: The word “pansexual” comes from the Greek prefix “pan” meaning “all”. Pansexuality differs from bisexuality in that people who identify as pansexual are emotionally or physically attracted to all genders, regardless of sex or gender identity, whereas bisexuality is defined as people who are emotionally or physically attracted to two genders.

The pansexual pride flag was created to differentiate between the bisexuality flag, which also has three horizontal bars. It was created on the internet sometime around 2010, and has gained popularity since then.

Flag Meaning
Pink: Representing attraction to those who identify as female.
Yellow: Representing attraction to those who identify as genderqueer, non-binary, agender, androgynous, or anyone who doesn’t identify on the male-female binary.
Blue: Representing attraction to those who identify as male.

The Intersex Pride Flag

Intersex: A person born with physical sex characteristics that don’t fit the traditional definitions for male or female bodies.

History: The intersex flag was unveiled on July 5, 2013 by creator Morgan Carpenter, then co-chair of Organization Intersex International Australia. Carpenter created the flag as a way to have a commonly understood symbol and flag. He mentioned that other attempts seemed derivative and sought to create something that had a firmly grounded meaning.

The flag has quickly gained popularity among intersex communities and organizations, thanks in part to its unique design. A flag that is also used to represent intersex pride and awareness was created in 2009 by Natalie Phox, with blue, pink, purple, and white stripes.

Flag Meaning
Purple: Used because it’s seen as a gender neutral color.
Yellow: Used because it’s seen as a gender neutral color.
Circle: Represents wholeness, completeness and the intersex people’s potentiality.

The Agender Pride Flag

Agender: People who identify as having no gender or as gender neutral. The term Agender can be literally translated to ‘without gender’. Agenderfolks may have any type of expression and use any set of pronouns or no pronouns.

History: The Agender flag has seven horizontal stripes and was created in the year of 2014 by Salem X. The flag was created to represent those within the Agender community. Agender folks may identify as having no gender, having an undefinable gender, not aligning with any gender, gender-neural or neutrois, or choose not to label their gender.

Another version of the Agender Pride Flag was created by Rumpus Parable in 2014. This version features three horizontal stripes and uses only two colours. The black stripe represents those without a gender identity. The complimenting white stripes are to be inclusive to those who are non-binary and intersex. The colours black and white were chosen in contrast to the separation of genders and expressions included in other pride flags.

Flag Meaning
Black: Represents the absence of gender
White: Represents the absence of gender
Grey: Represents semi-genderless
Green: Represents non-binary genders

The Genderqueer Pride Flag

Genderqueer: People whose gender identity does not fit within the male/female binary.

History: The flag was created in June 2011 by Marilyn Roxie in order to create visibility for the genderqueer community and related identities. The flag was originally intended to represent all non-binary and genderqueer people, but as the genderqueer community grew the flag became synonymous with "genderqueer" specifically, leaving many non-binary people to not feel represented by the flag. A non-binary flag was created in February 2014 by Kye Rowan to represent non-binary people specifically.

Flag Meaning
Lavender: Mixture of “blue” and “pink”. Represents androgyny, and people who identify as a mixture of female and male.
White: Represents agender people.
Dark Chartreuse Green: The inverse of lavender. Represents people who identify outside of and without reference to the gender binary.

The Genderfluid Pride Flag

Genderfluid: People who have a gender expression/expressions or identity/identities that are not constant or fixed.

History: The genderfluid pride flag was created by JJ Poole in 2013. The flag's creation was to represent people whose gender identity and/or expression is fluid and may fluctuate at different times or in different circumstances.

The flags five horizontal colored stripes represent the diversity of gender fluidity, genderfluid identity, and the genderfluid community. Genderfluid people may also identify as a part of the non-binary community, transgender community, or as multigender. Genderfluid people may have multiple gender identities, expressions, or use multiple sets of pronouns that fluctuate sometimes, constantly, or in a pattern.

Flag Meaning
Pink: Represents femininity.
White: Represents lack of gender.
Purple: Represents a combination of both masculinity and femininity.
Black: Represents all genders, including genders that do not align with femininity or masculinity.
Blue: Represents masculinity.