lives

Unlike the meaning of lambda, the history of the rainbow flag is relatively fixed. It was designed in 1978 by Gilbert Baker, reportedly at the behest of gay activist and city official Harvey Milk, who thought that the movement needed a logo. The original-purpose flag was constructed by Baker with hand-dyed fabric. It consisted of eight stripes: hot pink (for sexuality), red (life), orange (healing), yellow (sunlight), green (nature), turquoise (magic/art), indigo (serenity/harmony), and violet (spirit). When it came to manufacturing that flag, however, hot pink was not readily available, and that stripe fell to pragmatism. Eventually the two blues, turquoise and indigo, became one medium (or royal) blue, and the six-stripe flag became the standard. Variants are still seen, of course, and even the original eight-stripe version is now being manufactured. Whether or not you fly this flag yourself, we hope you make time this June to celebrate diversity and the ability to be yourself and the richness and comfort these two qualities bring to our lives.