These new flag designs are a cry from marginalised groups within the community, who deserve to be heard. LGBTQIA+ is only letters and it can mean nothing if it is exclusionary of groups of people it claims to represent. A symbol can lose meaning if used incorrectly, and the same goes for the acronym. Lady Phyll, a UK activist and co-founder of UK black pride has spoken up on the matter, saying that the six-colour flag has lost its meaning for many queer people of colour, as they have been denied entry into spaces decorated with that flag, or by people proudly bearing it in their attire. That’s why it is so important to expand the rainbow flag so it includes marginalised people of colour. Instead, racist comments on the internet and dating apps like "no blacks, no Asians" or "no chocolate, no curry, no rice, no spice," which deliberately exclude different ethnicities and people of colour, the fetishisation of black sexuality and the violence perpetrated within the community are spreading. But early activists like them are rarely celebrated. And many within the queer community forget that the distinctly black and latino LGBTQ vogue culture was a particularly influential movement which brought with it a flurry of literature, art, and music. Many don’t know that integral figures at the Stonewall riots (an uprising against years of police brutality to members of the LGBT+ community) were Marsha P Johnson, a black trans sex worker, and Sylvia Ray Rivera, a Latina trans sex worker. Until people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds are treated equally in LGBT+ communities, the new black and brown stripes are vital. The research exposes the extent to which BAME LGBT+ people face discrimination based on both their sexual orientation and/or gender identity, and their race also known as "double discrimination," or commonly referred to as "intersectionality." In the UK, over half of the black, Asian and minority ethnic LGBT+ population have reported discrimination or poor treatment WITHIN the Queer Community, according to this Stonewall study. Why is it so important to keep involving and evolving? This variant is called the Progress LBGT+ flag. The arrow pointing to the right represents forward movement, but being along the left edge it shows that progress still needs to be made. The following year, a queer designer & activist called Daniel Quasar released a flag with emphasis on inclusion and progression by incorporating elements of the original six-colour flag: the colour brown for marginalised people of colour, black for those living with AIDS, those no longer living, and the stigma surrounding them and the trans pride flag, light blue, light pink and white.
These colours symbolise diversity and inclusivity, respectively, and were included to show solidarity for the struggles LGBT people of colour especially face. Most notably, in 2017 for Philadelphia Pride, black and brown stripes were added at the top. The rainbow flag is ever changing and the creativity and the individual needs of the queer community have caused it to spawn to new and different versions over the years. Australia also has its own "Wear it Purple Day." These are days to raise awareness and confront homophobia, and are typically celebrated by donning purple attire. The latter has spun off into its own holiday of sorts: the third Thursday of October is known as Spirit Day in the U.S., while the Netherlands has its own Purple Friday on the second Friday of December. Those being red, symbolising life orange, symbolising healing yellow, symbolising sunlight green, symbolising nature blue (formerly indigo) symbolising harmony or serenity and violet or purple, symbolising spirit. The six colours, of course, each have a meaning. For the next two years, the flag would have seven colours, until turquoise suffered the same fate, leaving us with the iconic six-colour design. Due to increased demand for the flag and the high cost to produce hot pink fabric, the pink stripe was dropped. The original design was first conceived in 1978, and had two more colours than the current design: pink (symbolising sexuality) and turquoise (symbolising magic and art). The original flag was made by artist and activist Gilbert Baker, after being proposed by Harvey Milk himself, who was keen to replace the (then often-used) pink triangle as the main symbol for the LBGT movement (due to its dark history as a former nazi symbol).
But did you know that it wasn’t the original design? And that new flags are popping up all over the world? Members of the LGBTQIA+ community use all kinds of colours in all kinds of flags to create a variety of queer symbols. The six-colour rainbow flag will probably be the flag waved the most around the world during pride.