Prior to that event, the Pink triangle had been used as a symbol for the LGBT community, despite representing a dark chapter in the history of homosexuality. The original gay pride flags flew at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade celebration on June 25, 1978. In 1974, Baker met Harvey Milk, an influential gay leader, who later challenged Baker to devise a symbol of pride for the gay community. After an honorable discharge, Baker taught himself to sew. Gilbert Baker, born in 1951 and raised in Parsons, Kansas, had served in the US Army between 19. Six-color version popular since 1979, with royal blue replacing both turquoise and indigo. In addition to the rainbow, many other flags and symbols are used to communicate specific identities within the LGBT community. LGBT individuals and allies currently use rainbow flags and many rainbow-themed items and color schemes as an outward symbol of their identity or support. The flag is typically flown horizontally, with the red stripe on top, as it would be in a natural rainbow. Baker's first rainbow flag had eight colors, though the most common variant consists of six stripes: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Originally devised by artist Gilbert Baker, the design has undergone several revisions since its debut in 1978, first to remove colors then restore them based on availability of fabrics. Using a rainbow flag as a symbol of gay pride began in San Francisco, but eventually became common at LGBT rights events worldwide.
![gay pride rainbow fabric gay pride rainbow fabric](https://lushfabric.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/3mm-sparkling-gay-pride-striped-rainbow-sequins-material-2-way-stretch-fish-scales-fabric-for-masks-carnival-crafts-51-130cm-wide-5f0705b2-scaled.jpg)
Also known as the gay pride flag or LGBT pride flag, the colors reflect the diversity of the LGBT community and the spectrum of human sexuality and gender.
![gay pride rainbow fabric gay pride rainbow fabric](https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/american-flag-stars-gay-pride-rainbow-textile-cloth-fabric-waving-top-sunrise-mist-fog-beautiful-129817255.jpg)
He created rainbow flags for the recent ABC mini-series “When We Rise,” about the gay-rights movement.The rainbow flag is a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender ( LGBT) and queer pride and LGBT social movements. He was nevertheless always associated with the flag. Baker joined a flag company in San Francisco that supported his idea of mass-producing his creation, but he later left for a career in art and design. Baker said in 2008.Īfter the 1978 parade, Mr. “For me and, really, a whole generation of people, that was really a defining time,” Mr. San Francisco was then a center for the women’s rights and civil rights movements, and after a police raid in 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan, a gathering spot for gay New Yorkers, more people began coming out as gay. He served as a medic and was eventually stationed in San Francisco, where he remained after leaving the Army in 1972. Baker spent a year in college before he was drafted into the Army. Baker said he was outgoing growing up but had always thought of himself as an outcast because he was gay. His mother was a teacher, and his father was a lawyer and a judge. Gilbert Baker was born on June 2, 1951, in Chanute, Kan., a tiny rural town that was a stop on the Santa Fe Railway. Baker said, so it was removed, and turquoise and blue were combined into one color, royal blue.
![gay pride rainbow fabric gay pride rainbow fabric](https://www.weshowpride.com/image/cache/catalog/poncho/connie-flag-new-insta-600x766.jpg)
The flag itself has changed since 1978, going to six colors from eight. Baker to create an emblem to represent the movement. His creations, like others during that time, often included the pink triangle, which protesters had claimed as an icon after its initial use by the Nazis to identify gay men in concentration camps during World War II.īefore a gay pride parade in 1978 in San Francisco, Harvey Milk, a city supervisor and gay rights leader who was assassinated that year, joined others in asking Mr. Baker was often asked by friends aware of his creative talents to make banners for protests and marches. Baker had a stroke several years ago but had not been sick recently.Īs the gay rights movement spread from San Francisco and New York in the 1970s, Mr. He was 65.Ĭleve Jones, a friend and gay rights activist who confirmed the death, said that Mr.
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Gilbert Baker, a self-described “gay Betsy Ross” who in 1978 hand-dyed and stitched together eight strips of vibrantly colored fabric into a rainbow flag, instantly creating an enduring international symbol of gay pride, was found dead on Friday at his home in New York City.