A Quick Guide to the Many Different Pride Flags

Drag Queen and gay man Gilbert Baker created the first-ever pride flag in 1978. Baker saw that people liked to fly the flags of their country to show pride in their birthplace. So he thought the LGBTQ+ community should be able to show pride too.

Fast-forward to 2022 and there are now over 50 recognized pride flags that represent identities that aren’t heteronormative.

If you’re an ally or even a member of the LGBTQ+ community, it’s impossible to learn and remember all the pride flag meanings. But this quick guide to pride flags will help you identify the most common ones so you can be as supportive as possible.

Rainbow Pride Flag

This is, by far, the most prolific and well-known of all the pride flags. It’s a rainbow flag consisting of six red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple stripes. It represents the entire queer/LGBTQ+ community.

There are many iterations of the rainbow flag. These include:

• Original pride flag with eight stripes
• Philadelphia pride flag, which represents queer people of color
• Progress pride flag, which represents queer people of color and transgender people

If you remember any flag in this pride flags guide, make it this one.

Transgender Pride Flag

The transgender pride flag has five stripes. From top to bottom, the colors are light blue, light pink, white, light pink, and light blue. It dates back to 1999 and it represents everyone who doesn’t identify as cisgender.

Nonbinary Pride Flag

The nonbinary flag has four stripes. These are, from top to bottom, yellow, white, purple, and black.

A nonbinary pride flag can represent anyone who rejects the male/female gender binary. Created in 2010, it forgoes the use of the traditional pink and blue baby gender colors.

Bisexual Pride Flag

The bisexual pride flag has three stripes. The top is pink and the bottom is blue. These stripes are larger than the thin lavender stripe in the middle.

Dating back to 1998, the term “lavender menace” was a slur for bisexual people. The creator of the bisexual flag wanted to use this color in the flag to reclaim it.

Pansexual Pride Flag

The pansexual pride flag also has three stripes. These are pink on top, yellow in the middle, and turquoise on the bottom.

The pink represents female attraction and the turquoise represents male attraction. That means the yellow is for nonbinary attraction.

Lesbian Pride Flag

The lesbian pride flag has seven stripes. The top three stripes have an orange gradient and the bottom three have a pink gradient.

The stripe in the middle is white. These colors have symbolic meanings, like confidence and independence.

Be an Ally and Let the Pride Flags Fly

There are many other popular pride flags, like the asexual and aromantic flags. But the ones listed above are the most common. Now you’ll know what they mean when you see them on backpacks, clothing, and houses, and you can show your support!

There are so many other things you can learn to be more supportive of communities outside of your own. Browse our lifestyle articles to become more educated about current issues!