In celebration of the 25th anniversary in 2003, Gilbert Baker made the decision to return to where it all began. The Mile-Long Rainbow Flag, courtesy of Fl Keys News 25th anniversary restoration This was revealed at the Key West Pride in Florida and carried through the streets by about 2000 volunteers, representing a wide range of human identifiers (age, sexual orientation, ethnicity).
This, in itself, was seen as a historical moment, being recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s largest flag. As a challenge to himself, but also a show of celebration for the anniversary and the work Stonewall had done since, Gilbert Baker created a mile-long rainbow flag. In 1994 the LGBTQ+ community were observing the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. “Turquoise and indigo were swapped out in favor of royal blue when the organizers of San Francisco’s Gay Freedom Day Parade decided to halve the flag so that it would fly across the street with equal stripes on both sides” Dwell, 2020 Going the distance with the rainbow Now organizers for protests and pride parades were looking to Gilbert to provide rainbow flags to decorate the streets, squares and gardens. It wasn’t long before the rainbow flag was changed again in fact it was the following year 1979! Increasing in demand, it wasn’t just individuals that were trying to get their own rainbow flag. All their hard work paid off and the rainbow flag, made from eight colours was complete. The creation of this first flag was long and time consuming due to every process having to be done by hand, from dyeing the stripes to sewing the stripes together. The creation of this flag was an important opportunity for Gilbert and so he rented out a space and recruited friends and colleagues from the LGBTQ+ community to assist in its creation. A flag really fit that mission, because that’s a way of proclaiming your visibility or saying, ‘This is who I am!’ Baker, 2015 ‘Our job as gay people was to come out, to be visible, to live in the truth, as I say, to get out of the lie. So the idea of a rainbow flag was born ??. This was a light bulb moment for Gilbert as he had been exploring the possibilities of a flag representing the LGBTQ+ community for a couple of years, prior to his conversation with Harvey. Why Gilbert? Well he was also well known for being an artist, designer and drag performer, who made many of his own outfits. Harvey approached his friend and fellow rights activist Gilbert Baker, with the idea of a new symbol for the LGBTQ+ community. The first Pride Flag had how many stripes? Appointed to Cities Board of Permit Appeals, San Francisco.Organiser of Castro Street Fair, San Francisco.Creator/President of Castro Village Association, San Francisco.Production Associate Broadway, New York City.Diving Instructor (Lt Junior Grade) Navy.Harvey wanted something new, that would represent community, love, hope and freedom. ‘Before the pink triangle became a worldwide symbol of gay power and pride, it was intended as a badge of shame’ Mullen (2021). The pink triangle was an important symbol for the LGBTQ+ community, however, at the time it had a dark shadow attached, due to its connections with the war. At the time, the only symbol linked with the LGBTQ+ community was the pink triangle ?. He was a strong rights activist, aiming to make the lives better for the LGBTQ+ community, as well as other minority groups. Harvey Milk was an openly gay individual working in politics in San Francisco during the 1970s. But where did it come from? Was it always seen this way? Was it always as we know it? Where did it begin? We see it as a way of life and celebration. We see them on public buildings, in shop windows, across streets while also being incorporated into clothing, pins, badges, stickers and cakes. These days we see rainbow flags flying everywhere.