For This Year's Pride Month, Philadelphia Commissioned A Redesign Then the committee organizing the 1979 Gay Freedom Day Parade cut turquoise to give the flag an even number of colors, so it could be flown as two halves in San Francisco. First, pink was cut because the dye for it was apparently difficult to obtain at the time for mass production. Over time, the flag was cut down to six colors. The flag was eventually cut down to six colors out of practical considerations. At the top was hot pink, which represented sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow signifying sunlight, green for nature, turquoise to represent art, indigo for harmony, and finally violet at the bottom for spirit. The original flag featured eight colors, each having a different meaning. The different colors within the flag were meant to represent togetherness, since LGBT people come in all races, ages and genders, and rainbows are both natural and beautiful. The original pride flag, designed by Gilbert Baker, had eight colors - all meant to represent something different.
But for some, the new stripes felt like an unnecessary alteration to an essential LGBT symbol. The additions, meant to represent LGBT people of color, brought feelings of excitement for many activists and advocates. Above the traditional top red stripe were new brown and black ones. Last week, a new version of the rainbow gay pride flag flew over Philadelphia to kick off gay pride month.
