At the time, hot pink was a non-standard color in flag fabric production, and deemed too costly to reproduce. Over the next two years, its design was changed for different reasons. This story has been updated with an image of the flag the Mayor’s Office has confirmed will be used. When the rainbow pride flag was unveiled in 1978, its colors were hot pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo and violet. The flag reveal and raising will take place on Thursday on the north apron of City Hall as part of the city’s first annual LGBTQ Pride Month kick-off celebration from 3:30 p.m. Although there have been several variations of the flag in the past that highlighted specific identities within the LGBTQ spectrum, this will be the first time a major institution has ever modified the flag as a way to highlight racial diversity within it. The original six-color rainbow Pride flag was created by Gilbert Baker in 1978 he died in March at age 65.
Last month, City Council unanimously passed a bill, prompted by Gayborhood racism concerns, that will give PCHR the power to issue “cease-operations orders” to businesses found to engage in a pattern of discrimination Mayor Jim Kenney later confirmed that he would sign it into law. In February, the Mayor’s Office named Amber Hikes, a black queer woman, as the executive director of the Office of LGBT Affairs and finally announced the members of the new Commission on LGBT Affairs, whose leadership ranks are primarily people of color. In January, the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations (PCHR) mandated that Gayborhood bars and nonprofits comply with sensitivity trainings after community complaints of racial discrimination emerged last year. The arrival of a more inclusive pride flag is another sign of visible progress over the past six months in the city’s LGBTQ community. “With all of the black and brown activism that’s worked to address racism in the Gayborhood over the past year, I think the new flag is a great step for the city to show the world that they’re working toward fully supporting all members of our community.”Ī spokesperson for the event would not confirm the new design, but in a statement described the flag reveal as “a special, can’t-be-missed unveiling and raising of a brand-new Pride flag which promises to be a step toward inclusivity, to spur dialogue within the community, and to impact the worldwide conversation.” “The black and brown stripes are an inclusionary way to highlight black and brown LGBTQIA members within our community,” said one source involved with the flag-raising event who asked not to be named. The new permanent design will be, from top to bottom: black, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Multiple sources closely connected with Thursday’s First Annual Pride Kick-Off at City Hall have confirmed to G Philly that the city’s Pride flag will add black and brown stripes below the traditional six-color rainbow layout. Image of new Pride flag via its designing company, Tierney.