Every LGBTQ+ flag you might see at Pride and what they all mean

Pride month is a time for protest and celebration, one when the LGBTQ+ community unite under the rainbow banner or their chosen Pride flag. From the bisexual Pride flag to the trans Pride flag, here’s a guide to all the different designs.

Each year in June, the queer community comes together to march through city centres honouring the diversity of our people – often, by waving or dressing themselves in flags.

Some of these flags may not be familiar to everyone, so PinkNews brings you a look at the many wonderfully bright and diverse designs, and what it all means.

LGBTQ+ or Gay Pride flag

Let’s start with a familiar one.

The rainbow flag is seen at Pride events all around the world and is often used as a collective symbol for the entire LGBTQ+ community.

However, the design we are most familiar with has changed slightly from the original designed by Gilbert Baker in 1977.

Baker, who died in 2017, said each colour in the flag represents something different.

According to Baker, pink is for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sun, green for nature, turquoise for magic, blue for serenity and purple for the spirit.

“I like to think of those elements as in every person, everyone shares that,” he said to ABC7 news in 1972.

“Flags say something. You put a rainbow flag on your windshield and you’re saying something.”

Although the six-stripe flag we are all most familiar with was caused by difficulties in getting pink and turquoise fabric, that doesn’t mean the flag has finished changing.

In 2017, campaign group More Color More Pride added two extra stripes of black and brown to the traditional flag in order to tangibly include people of colour.

The new flag sparked controversy, but it has a large host of supporters, including Lena Waithe who fabulously wore a cape version of the inclusive flag to the 2018 Met Gala.