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Gay Pride / Rainbow Flag (3)

Sexual Orientation Flags

Last modified: 2024-01-13 by randy young
Keywords: rainbow flag | stripes: 7 | stripes: 8 | stripes: 6 | gay pride |
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[Rainbow flag]
image by António Martins, 20 April 1999

See also: External links:

Replacement by single-color flags

Six-striped version

[Red rainbow flag] [Orange rainbow flag] [Yellow rainbow flag]
[Green rainbow flag] [Blue rainbow flag] [Purple rainbow flag]
images by Tomislav Todorović, 18 June 2017
These images show the color shades which seem to appear the most frequently, as well as a typical ratio.

The Gay Pride / Rainbow Flag is frequently replaced with the set of six plain flags, each in one of its colors. The color shades vary a lot, just like they do when appearing together on a single flag, and the same is true about the ratio. Also, two or more sets of these flags are often used together. One of the earliest recorded examples of their use was in Manchester, England, at Manchester Pride 2001. The flags have appeared again at Amsterdam Pride 2002. There are currently no available photos from Amsterdam from the following years until 2014, when they were photographed again, which does not necessarily mean that they were not in use during that period. The flags were also seen at the Jerusalem Gay Pride Parade 2008 and at the Taiwan LGBT Pride 2011, the photos from the event being available here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/68513806@N08/sets/72157627884289947.

In the USA, some of earliest examples date from 2007:
Tomislav Todorović, 18 June 2017

One of the most recent replacements of the Gay Pride / Rainbow Flag with six plain flags is from the Columbus Pride 2016, with the photos available here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Tomislav Todorović, 20 June 2017


Seven-striped version

There re-introduction of 7-striped flag seem not to have inspired its replacement with the set of seven plain flags, except perhaps in one case - at Columbus Pride 2008, with the photos available here, here, here, and here.

However, the fact that there are two green flags, making the total number of eight, leaves the observer in doubt whether the original intention was to make a set of eight flags, the pink one having been found to be missing too lately, so it was replaced with a second green flag in the last moment. Still the fact that there were the flags in seven colors may be worth recording.
Tomislav Todorović, 20 June 2017


Eight-striped version

[Pink rainbow flag] [Red rainbow flag] [Orange rainbow flag] [Yellow rainbow flag]
[Green rainbow flag] [Turqoise rainbow flag] [Indigo rainbow flag] [Purple rainbow flag]
images by Tomislav Todorović, 19 June 2017
These images show the color shades which seem to appear the most frequently, as well as a typical ratio.

The re-introduction of 8-striped version of the Gay Rainbow Flag has also inspired a limited introduction of its replacement in form of the set of eight plain flags, modelled after the similar set made to replace the 6-striped flag (see above). Currently, all the known examples of its use are from Columbus, Ohio.

Photos from Columbus Pride 2011 can be found here, here, and here, and those from Columbus Pride 2012, here, here, here, here, and here.

The flags have appeared again at Columbus Pride 2013, with the photos available here, here, and here (there are many more, but those do not display all flags), and at Columbus Pride 2014, with the photos available here and here.
Tomislav Todorović, 19 June 2017