Rainbow Flag painting

This Rainbow Flag painting represents the key symbol of LGBTQI+ communities across the world, including New Zealand.

Gilbert Baker

Gilbert Baker (1951-2017) was an American political activist, designer and flag-maker (vexillographer). He created the Rainbow Flag in 1978. Since then, his flag has been embraced across the world as the universal symbol of pride and solidarity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex (LGBTQI+) communities.

When Baker arrived in San Francisco in 1972, he began creating banners for anti-war and pro-gay marches and protests. At the suggestion of friends and colleagues, he began work on creating a new symbol for the gay and lesbian political movement. Like many others in the community, he wanted to replace the obscure Greek letter lambda and the pink triangle which were the symbols for the gay rights movement at that time. The pink triangle had been used by the Nazis to identify homosexuals during the Second World War. It represented a dark history, and Baker and his circle wanted something that was positive, celebrated love, and acknowledged diversity.

As a flag-maker, Baker knew how flags projected ideas of power, identity and place. He wanted a flag that could be flown everywhere and understood globally. His inspiration came one night in a nightclub, when dancing in a swirl of light and colour he was reminded of a rainbow. Rainbows have long been a symbol of hope to many cultures, and are universally understood as they come from nature. They are a reminder that it’s natural to be as we are, and love whoever we want to.

The first Rainbow Flag

Baker originally chose eight colours and assigned the following symbolic meanings: pink for sexuality, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for magic and art, indigo for peace and harmony, and purple for spirit. The painted flag in this proposal features these original colours.

Working with friends, Baker hand dyed and sewed the first Rainbow flags. On 25 June 1978, they raised the first flags and banners in San Francisco’s United Nations Plaza to commemorate that year’s Gay Freedom Day Parade. The Rainbow Flag was immediately embraced by LGBTQI+ communities.

In 1979, Baker joined the Paramount Flag Company which supported the mass production of the Rainbow Flag. However, the flag was reduced to six bands of colour, as pink and turquoise were removed for production purposes (the dyes were difficult to come by). For many years, six colours prevailed. At times other colours have been added: black to represent AIDS victims in the 1980s; black and brown for people of colour in 2017; white-pink-blue for transgender people in 2019.

In addition to making textile Rainbow flags, Baker also painted and printed Rainbow Flag images, including this example, to raise money for charity.

A New Zealand connection

In the 2000s, Baker served as grand marshal for LGBTQI+ Pride events in cities around the world, including San Francisco in 2012 when New Zealand couple Gareth Watkins and Roger Smith met him. They purchased one of Baker’s Rainbow Flag painting at an AIDS charity shop in the Castro district. Baker happened to be in the shop at the time, and the shop assistant pointed him out. They were thrilled to meet a hero of the gay rights movement. Baker re-signed the back of the flag: ‘To Gareth & Roger, SF Pride 2012’. As Gareth observes, ‘not only does it talk to us, it talks to a lot of people’.

For Gareth and Roger, the Rainbow Flag painting is ‘probably one of our most prized possessions. It’s a really significant item because it ties us with an international Pride movement, and shows how close the world is. To meet someone who was at the forefront of rainbow activism in the 1970s. Even though it’s an American history, it’s shaped New Zealand history. And we’re still raising rainbow flags. It’s still a significant icon and it’s flexible.’ This painting is also personally significant to Gareth and Roger as they were able to marry in New York City on their 2012 trip (NYC approved same-sex marriage 2011). At that time, same-sex couples could not yet marry in New Zealand (2013) or in San Francisco (2015).

Gilbert Baker’s Rainbow Flag resides in the public domain, as do all flags. Baker gifted it to the community (it’s not copyrighted).