PHOTO BY ROB O’NEAL / The Citizen
A Quick History of the LGBT Flag
Gilbert Baker was recently portrayed in Dustin Lance Black’s When We Rise and is the creator of the iconic LGBT flag and it’s proud rainbow. The original flag had eight colors, and is shown in the photo to the left: This particular flag stretched over two kilometers of Key West in 2003 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of flag, and was cut up in small sections and sent to hundreds of cities all over the world!
Today’s flag consists of only six colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. (This was due to manufacturing issues for the hot pink and turquoise colors.) The LGBT community and their allies proudly display this flag as a symbol of their success as a movement and to remember those who lost their lives to hate.
Mr. Baker passed in his sleep in March of this year; leaving behind a legacy that molded the modern LGBT movement.
Swanson, Ana. “How the rainbow became the symbol of gay pride”. The Washington Post. Retrieved June 7th, 2017