Have you ever noticed people wearing a striped rainbow scarf and wondered what they are? People from the LGBTQ+ community wear a pride stole to showcase their pride and solidarity. They wear these stoles in parades, festivals, parties, workshops, and the pride graduation also called the lavender graduation. Pride month is celebrated in June across the globe. It recognizes and honors the struggles & achievements while advocating for justice. Every flag has a deeper meaning; knowing about it will help you understand its significance. In this blog, we are exploring pride flags in depth.
A Brief About Pride Symbols and Meaning
These symbols recognize the LGBTQ+ community while displaying diversity.
The Original Pride:
The pride flag was designed by Gilbert Baker, the American designer, activist, and vexillologist, in 1978. Harvey Milk had asked Baker to create a symbol for the community, and the rainbow was thus born. Baker took the inspiration from the rainbow as it is a natural form of flag, and gave 8 stripes to it. He used pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo, and violet.
The Rainbow Pride:
The rainbow flag is a universal symbol for recognizing the entire LGBTQIA+. It is similar to the original pride flag designed by Gilbert Baker. The difference is that the rainbow flag does not contain pink, turquoise, or indigo. The pink color signified sex, while turquoise indicated art, and indigo showed harmony. However, later on, they removed these colors from the design to decrease the production time and ease.
Philadelphia Pride:
The Philadelphia Pride is a recent introduction of two colors black and brown into the rainbow pride. Before 2017, the queer and trans people from the BIPOC which stands for Black, Indigenous, and people of color did not have a specific symbol to recognize them. So in the year 2017, Philadelphia located in Pennsylvania declared this design as the official symbol.
Bisexual Pride:
The term bisexual is given to people who have an attraction towards both males and females regardless of their gender. It can be an emotional, sexual, or romantic. Activist Michael Page was the creator of the symbol. Each color is a symbol of attraction amongst the same gender. He used magenta, blue, and purple in the design. Magenta signifies attraction to the same gender, blue shows attraction to other genders, while purple signifies attraction to the same and opposite gender.
Lesbian Pride:
Lesbians are defined as women who are sexually, emotionally and romantically attracted to other women. The original flag had a lipstick mark in red color. Though the claims were not proven, the designer received backlash for spreading transphobia & biphobia along with racism. Later in 2018, they released a new design that featured six colors. The lesbian pride possesses dark-middle-light orange, white, and dark-middle-light pink.
Transgender Pride:
A transgender is a person who does not identify themselves with the gender they were born with. Monica Helms was the designer of the flag. The blue color signifies baby boys while the pink color is used for baby girls. The white color is the visual representation of people in the transitioning phase, who are nonbinary or don’t identify themselves to any gender. Helms designed it by keeping symmetry in mind so it looks perfect from all directions.
Celebrate & Volunteer Your Pride With Fun & Style
We understand coming out takes courage and can cause severe anxiety to many. Some people might face rejection, and humiliation, from their friends and family. Hence fostering a safe and healthy environment will help them thrive in life. Whether you are attending a pride parade or your graduation ceremony, a custom graduation stole with a symbol of your pride will help you stand out. There are so many ways to mark the occasion and for that, you will need a pride stole. If you have friends from the community you can gift them as a graduation keepsake or to show solidarity with them.
Also Read: Boost Your Brand with Smart Corporate Gifting Strategy
