Fun With Flags
We’re Flying The Flags
For the last 50 years, the LGBTQ+ community has come together to march (or indeed Strutt in Belper’s case) under the rainbow banner through the streets. We are honouring the diversity of people.
Flags are used by communities to represent and celebrate their identities.
Here’s your definitive guide to the most popular flags you may see at a Pride event.
From the light tones of the trans flag to the colourful genderfluid flag, take a look and learn what those all important colours really mean.
Traditional Rainbow Flag
The traditional and most familiar flag. The Rainbow Flag is seen at Pride events all around the world and is often used as a collective symbol for the entire LGBT community.
Philadelphia Pride Flag
The Philadelphia flag was designed in 2017, adding black and brown stripes to the six-striped rainbow flag in order to give representation to queer and trans People of Colour. The city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania officially adopted the new Pride flag in 2017, giving this design its name.
Progress Flag
Carrying on from the Philadelphia flag, this redesign celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQ community and calls for a more inclusive society. Daniel Quasar, who identifies as queer and non-binary, designed the flag.
Bisexual Flag
The Bisexual Pride flag was designed by Michael Page in 1998 in order to give bisexual people a wider sense of community and visibility.
Page said that the message of the flag was the idea that the purple blends into both the blue and pink in the same way that bisexual people often blend unnoticed into both gay and straight communities.
A-Sexual Flag
Asexuality is often a term used by people who have a very limited or no sexual feelings or desires whatsoever.
According to the Asexuality Archive, the flag was created by a member of the Asexuality Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) as part of a contest in 2010.
Pansexual Flag
Many people see pansexuality as either an attraction regardless of gender or an attraction to all genders. The creator of the Pansexual flag is unknown.
The flag began to be used on the internet in 2010 and has since become a frequent sight at Pride events all around the world.
Pansexual people describe the flag as showing the attraction to men with the blue stripe, women with the pink and people of other genders with the yellow.
Lesbian Flag
While there have been many iterations of the Lesbian Pride Flag, this has been in use since 2018. Since then, it has been widely accepted. The different shades of red, pink, and orange represent the different types of femininity in the lesbian community.
Transgender Flag
The Transgender Pride flag was created by trans activist, author and veteran of the United States Navy Monica Helms, who came out as trans in 1987.
Helms came up with the trans flag in 1999, after she met Michael Page, and he told her “the trans community needs a flag too.”
“The light blue is the traditional colour for baby boys and pink for girls – the white in the middle of the flag is for those who are transitioning, those who feel they have a neutral gender or no gender, and those who are intersexed,” Helms said.
“The pattern is such that no matter which way you fly it, it will always be correct. This symbolises us trying to find correctness in our own lives.”
Gender Queer Flag
Genderqueer is one form of non-binary identity that has its own flag, which was created by artist and film maker Marilyn Roxie in 2011.
The three stripes of the flag each have their own meaning, with androgyny represented with lavender, agender people represented with the white, and non-binary identities with the green.
Intersex Flag
Intersex means a person who is born with variations in sex characteristics including chromosomes, sex hormones, or genitals that don’t fit the typical “male” or “female” definitions.
Designed by the advocacy group Intersex Human Rights Australia in 2013, the intersex Pride flag intentionally stays away from traditionally gendered colours of blue and pink to celebrate the intersex community.
Explaining the meaning of the flag, the group states: “The circle is unbroken and un-ornamented, symbolising wholeness and completeness, and our potentialities. We are still fighting for bodily autonomy and genital integrity, and this symbolises the right to be who and how we want to be.”
Gender Fluid Flag
Genderfluid is the term for people who find that their gender identity can shift, and the identity is often included under the non-binary umbrella.
The five stripes of the Genderfluid Pride flag each have their own meanings, with the pink and blue for femininity and masculinity, the purple stripe for both masculinity and femininity.
The black stripe in the flag represents a lack of gender, and white is there for all genders.
Polysexual Flag
Polysexuality, unlike pansexuality, is the attraction to multiple genders but not all. A middle ground between bisexuality and pansexuality.
It can also be used as an umbrella term for identities such as bisexual and pansexual, but many use polysexual as an identity in itself.
It is centred more around attractions to femininity and masculinity rather than gender itself. The pink represents attraction to females; the blue for males. The green is for an attraction to those who don’t conform to either gender.
Polyamorous Flag
Polyamoury is the term for people who have open sexual or romantic relationships with more than one person at a time.
Many polyamorous people also identify with another label within the LGBT+ community, and so it’s common to see polyamorous Pride flags.
Designed by Jim Evans, the flag represents honesty with the blue stripe, love with the red, and the fight against discrimination with the black stripe.
Aromantic Flag
The Aromantic Pride Flag was created by Tumblr user Cameron Whimsy in 2015 as a symbol to represent people who experience little or no romantic attraction.
Aromantic folks can feel sexual attraction and can be of any sexual orientation or gender identity.
Ally Flag
The Ally Pride Flag is a flag that is used by people who are allies of the LGBTQ+ community.
The flag is designed to show support for the LGBTQ+ community by members of the wider society.
Two Spirit Flag
The Two Spirit flag represents Indigenous American that identity as two-spirit individuals meaning they fall outside of the Masculine -Feminine identity. The feathers represent masculine and feminine identities. The circle signifies the unification of both identities into a separate gender while the rainbow represents modern queer identities.