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Collection: Movements
For an example of an established design being adopted to give visibility to a movement, you’d need look no further than the Pride American flag. With its characteristic rainbow colors, the Pride flag design is used for far more than flags: it’s a way for the LGBTQ+ community, and allies, to express solidarity and identity on social media, through banners and graffiti, and more.
The Pride flag dates back to 1978, and was designed by an artist named Gilbert Baker, who in turn was encouraged to do so by the iconic Harvey Milk, one the first openly gay elected US officials in history. The colors of the flag echo the rainbow, and broadly symbolize diversity combined with unity. Interestingly, although the Pride flag is most often displayed horizontally, it can also be hung vertically – and if so, should be done so that the red strip is on the right hand side for the viewer.
When the flag was initially designed, Baker decided to define each color symbolically, and so the Pride flag color codes were born. The red strip represents life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, blue for harmony or art, and violet for spirit.
There are several other flags which represent social movements, from the now-iconic Black Lives Matter flag, to flags that represent political splinter groups and ideologies. Unfortunately, not all of these represent innate goodness or tolerance, and some are used to foster hatred and bigotry as well – which demonstrates the power of flags and symbols as rallying points.
However, in the iconography of modern social movements, the Pride American flag stands out as being almost universally recognizable and is widely accepted as a beacon of universal love, peace, and hope.
The Pride flag dates back to 1978, and was designed by an artist named Gilbert Baker, who in turn was encouraged to do so by the iconic Harvey Milk, one the first openly gay elected US officials in history. The colors of the flag echo the rainbow, and broadly symbolize diversity combined with unity. Interestingly, although the Pride flag is most often displayed horizontally, it can also be hung vertically – and if so, should be done so that the red strip is on the right hand side for the viewer.
When the flag was initially designed, Baker decided to define each color symbolically, and so the Pride flag color codes were born. The red strip represents life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, blue for harmony or art, and violet for spirit.
There are several other flags which represent social movements, from the now-iconic Black Lives Matter flag, to flags that represent political splinter groups and ideologies. Unfortunately, not all of these represent innate goodness or tolerance, and some are used to foster hatred and bigotry as well – which demonstrates the power of flags and symbols as rallying points.
However, in the iconography of modern social movements, the Pride American flag stands out as being almost universally recognizable and is widely accepted as a beacon of universal love, peace, and hope.