Gay man flags

Here’s a brief introduction to 32 of them.

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Gilbert Baker Pride Flag

Picture it: San Francisco, 1974. As such, you'll likely see a lot of different Pride flags that embody different aspects of the LGBTQIA+ community. Because, y’all, representation is crucial!

One such flag is the Gay Men’s Pride Flag – a flag you might already have seen flown at any number of pride festivals around the world, from New Orleans to Montreal…and everywhere in between!

Another lesser-known pride flag is the gay men’s pride flag.

It was designed by a Tumblr user with the signature “Samlin.” Both the colors and the design borrowed from the Bisexual and Pansexual flags. A year later, the flag made its debut at a Pride parade in Phoenix. The raised clenched fist in the center of the traditional rainbow flag indicates solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.

This year as you celebrate Pride Month, don’t miss these must-see LGBTQ movies.

Progress Pride Flag

A year after the debut of the Philadelphia Pride Flag, Oregon-based designer Daniel Quasar introduced a reworked version of the more inclusive flag. Take, for instance, the story of a girl who was sent away by her family as a teen because she was gay.

That happened in 2010, and it still happens across the country today—all the more reason for the fight for LGBTQ rights to continue.

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Polyamory Pride Flag

When Jim Evans created the Polyamory Pride Flag in 1995, he wanted it to be a symbol—and sign—for people who identify as polyamorous.

From top to bottom, they are:

• Dark green
• Light green
• White
• Pale pink
• Magenta

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Drag Pride Flag

Although there was an earlier version of the Drag Pride Flag created by artist Sean Campbell in 1999, it was originally known as the Feather Pride Flag.

The dark brown, orange/rust, golden yellow, tan, white, gray, and black stripes of the flag represent the fur colors of the animal the group is named after.

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Rubber Pride Flag

The leather subculture wasn’t the only group to get its own flag in 1995. DeBlase indicated that he wanted to “leave it to the viewer to interpret the colors and symbols.”

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Bear Brotherhood Pride Flag

Members of the International Bear Brotherhood—comprised of gay men with a specific set of physical traits, including facial hair and a sturdy build—got their own flag in 1995.

It comes in a variety of green, blue, and purple hues.

This modern gay men’s pride flag is a reimagining of a previous gay men’s pride flag with a variety of blue tones. Designed by Tony DeBlase for Chicago’s International Mr. Leather celebration in 1989 to mark the 20th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, the symbol represents people involved with kink—including those who are heterosexual and/or cisgender.

Want to wave this flag for Pride Month? In addition to the original six stripes, this flag includes black and brown, symbolizing people of color. The purple stripe in the middle symbolizes attraction to two genders.

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Pansexual Pride Flag

Pansexual folks—who are attracted to people regardless of their gender identity—got their own flag around 2010.

It was unveiled on June 8, 2017, at Philadelphia City Hall and was designed by a small Philly-based PR agency.

The circle symbolizes the unification of masculine and feminine identities into a separate gender, and the rainbow of colors represents modern LGBTQ identities.

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Abrosexual Pride Flag

The Abrosexual Pride Flag represents those who identify as abrosexual—that is, people whose sexual identity is fluid and whose sexual orientation fluctuates over time.

“When the Pride flag was recreated in the last year to include both black/brown stripes as well as the trans stripes included this year, I wanted to see if there could be more emphasis in the design of the flag to give it more meaning,” Quasar explained in a 2018 Kickstarter post raising money for the new flag.

The white, pink, and light blue chevron design on the Progress Pride Flag reflects the colors of the Transgender Flag, while the brown and black stripes represent marginalized people of color.

It contains five colors, though their meanings are unknown. Celebrate the life of another gay icon with these powerful and moving James Baldwin quotes.

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Traditional Gay Pride Flag

It would take another year before the original LGBTQ rainbow flag completed its evolution.