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The intent and purpose of the flag is to maximize bisexual pride and visibility.
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The first Bi Pride Flag was unveiled on Dec 5, 1998. Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a much-decorated Vietnam Veteran dying of AIDS, proposed that when a cure is eventually found the black stripes should be removed from all the flags and ceremoniously burned in Washington, D.C. Suggested by a San Francisco group, the black stripe commemorates those we have lost to AIDS. The Victory Over AIDS Flag modifies the rainbow flag by adding a black stripe at the bottom. In 1994, a huge 30-foot-wide by one-mile-long rainbow flag was carried by 10,000 people in New York's Stonewall 25 Parade. It is even officially recognized by the International Congress of Flag Makers. This six color version spread from San Francisco to other cities, and soon became the widely known symbol of gay pride and diversity it is today. Due to production constraints -such as the fact that hot pink was not a commercially available color -pink and turquoise were removed from the design, and royal blue replaced indigo. The next year Baker approached San Francisco Paramount Flag Company to mass-produce rainbow flags for the 1979 parade. The flags had eight stripes, each color representing a component of the community: hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sun, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit. Baker and thirty volunteers hand stitched and hand dyed two huge prototype flags for the parade. Borrowing symbolism from the hippie movement and black civil rights groups, San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker designed the rainbow flag in response to a need for a symbol that could be used year after year. Use of the rainbow flag by the gay community began in 1978 when it first appeared in the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade. The rainbow also plays a part in many myths and stories related to gender and sexuality issues in Greek, Native American, African, and other cultures. The multicultural symbolism of the rainbow is nothing new - Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Coalition also embraces the rainbow as a symbol of that political movement. Of course, this list isn’t exhaustive because flags are always being devised to reflect different sub-cultures, but hopefully this will useful for the next time you see one of these gorgeous symbols being flown at the next Pride event.The rainbow flag has become the easily recognized colors of pride for the gay community. We’ve collected a list of the Pride flags that have become synonymous with various identities in our vibrant community. The existence of this flag doesn’t take away from anybody else’s identity. “That is literally the purpose of any flag we have – to stand as a symbol for an identity, whether it’s a country, a municipality, a company, it stands as a symbol to recognise and highlight the experiences of this entity. Instead it is a way to symbolise, to highlight, and to stand in solidarity with these other identities,” she told GAY TIMES. “This eight-stripe flag is not a replacement, in the same way that that those other flags didn’t replace the original. When we spoke to Amber Hikes, developer of the eight-stripe More Colour More Pride flag, she explained the importance of individual symbols for LGBTQ+ sub-cultures – and she did it beautifully. NEWSFLASH PEOPLE: one flag would be a snooze-fest! There has been pushback, however, from members of the community who argue that the original Pride flag encompasses and celebrates all identities. Since artist and gay rights activist Gilbert Baker created the original flag in 1978, various designers and advocates have made different (or updated) variations of the flag to better represent individual communities. Each year, the rainbow flag is flown at Pride events all around a world to reflect the beauty and diversity of the LGBTQ+ community.