The Rainbow Flag was created in 1978 by a Gilbert Baker who was an openly gay artist and drag queen from San Francisco.
Popular Stories Right now He was urged by a local activist to design a symbol for their community. The first version of the flag was revealed at the San Francisco Freedom Day parade on 25th June 1978 and had eight coloured stripes with each colour having a unique meaning.
The first flags were handmade by Gilbert Baker and a team of volunteers but in order to distribute them to a wider audience he had to have them mass produced. This unfortunately caused a few production issues resulting in removing the hot-pink and turquoise stripes and replacing them with indigo and blue.
Following this decision, the six striped flag we see most commonly today was created and includes the colours red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. The flag is now a universal symbol for LGBTQ+ Pride and is flown all around the world.