Rainbow lgbtq

Rainbow Railroad’s Annual Report: Awareness the State of Global LGBTQI+ Persecution

We’re proud to share Rainbow Railroad’s Annual Report: Understanding the State of Global LGBTQI+ Persecution, a powerful reflection of the impact we’ve made together over the past year, and a call to action as we watch ahead.

Bill C-2 contravenes Canadian core values and undermines the right to refuge

Rainbow Railroad expresses serious concern about the impact of Bill C-2 on LGBTQI+ refugees, and calls on the government to withdraw the legislation.

"I Dared to Resist": Julie's Journey from Persecution to Pride

“‘Dare to Resist’ means refusing to be silent in the face of injustice. It means living boldly and authentically, even when the world tells you not to.”

Finding Pride: D'John’s Story of Strength and Solidarity

When D’John arrived in Toronto from Jamaica, he was searching something many take for granted — the chance to live freely, without fear.

“Canada Gave Me a Second Chance”: Rahma's Opportunity to Rebuild

“No matter where you are, there are people who grasp and will stand with you,” Rahma s

How the Rainbow Became a Symbol for Movement – and Why it Matters

Every June, the LGBTQ+ community and allies celebrate Pride Month, and, in recent years, we have seen a substantial increase in companies showing their support by incorporating the rainbow flag as part of their logos and/or products. To those outside of the community this seems appreciate a wonderful way to recognize Pride Month — but many in the LGBTQ+ community feel otherwise. The term “rainbow washing” has become the recent label for the seemingly instantaneous and universal convert from company colors to rainbow colors on June 1. Rainbow washing is viewed as a performative act of support, rather than as a meaningful or intentional expression of support.

I’d like to take a moment to explain what the colors on the Pride flag mean and share a brief history on the evolution of the flag — from where it started to how it is presented today.

A symbol of and for pride

It is common facts that the rainbow flag is a symbol of LGBTQ+ Pride. However, it is less commonly established that the colors reflect the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community.

The rainbow flag became a symbol for queer Pr

LGBTQ+ Pride Flags

In the LGBTQ+ community, we signify our pride with flags. With many distinct identities in the people, there comes many other flags to know. We have collected all of the flags and a guide to learn about all of the other colors of our community’s rainbow. We know that this may not be all of the flags that represent our society, but we will update the page as recent flags become popular!

Explore the flag collection below! View a flag's name by hovering or clicking on the flag.

Umbrella Flags

Gilbert Baker Pride Flag
Traditional Pride Flag
Philadelphia Pride Flag
Progress Pride Flag
Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag
Queer Pride Flag

The original Pride Flag was created in after activist Harvey Milk asked artist Gilbert Baker to design a symbol of gay pride. Each shade represents a different part of the LGBTQ+ community: hot pink represents sex, red symbolizes life, orange stands for healing, yellow equals sunlight, green stands for nature, turquoise symbolizes magic and art, indigo represents serenity, while violet symbolizes the spirit of LGBTQ+ people.

After the assa

The Progress Pride flag was developed in by agender American artist and creator Daniel Quasar (who uses xe/xyr pronouns). Based on the iconic rainbow flag from , the redesign celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQ community and calls for a more inclusive society. In , the V&A acquired a bespoke applique version of the Progress Pride flag that can be seen on display in the Design – Now gallery.

'Progress' is a reinterpretation of multiple iterations of the pride flag. The imaginative 'rainbow flag' was created by Gilbert Baker in to celebrate members of the gay and queer woman political movement. It comprised eight coloured stripes stacked on top of each other to evoke a rainbow, a symbol of hope. Baker assigned a specific meaning to each colour: pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for world, turquoise for magic, indigo for serenity and violet for spirit. A year later the pink and turquoise stripes were dropped owing to a shortage of pink fabric at the time and legibility concerns, resulting in the six-colour rainbow flag most commonly used in the first decades of the 21st century.

Baker's flag was embraced internationally a