June 25, 1978: “Gay Pride Flag” makes debut

On this day in 1978, Gilbert Baker’s rainbow flag made its debut at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade. The design was inspired by “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” by Judy Garland, an icon in the gay community.

The original 1978 design had eight colors: hot pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo, and violet. Within a year, it underwent two changes to reach its present state.

When Harvey Milk, the first openly gay supervisor of San Francisco, was assassinated along with Mayor George Moscone in November, demand for the flag caused manufacturers to run out of pink dye, so that color was dropped.

Organizers at the 1979 parade wanted to hang the flag in halves on both sides of lamp posts; that would work better with an even number of stripes, so turquoise and indigo were combined into royal blue.

The parade had begun in 1970 to mark the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. In the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, New York City police raided The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village, trying to enforce a ban on public homosexuality.

The patrons, tired of being harassed, fought back, and a movement was born. June is now celebrated as LGBT Pride Month. (LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender.) Although Judy Garland had died earlier that same week, and was buried hours before the riots began, there is no evidence the two were connected.

Here’s an interview with Gilbert Baker, often called The Gay Betsy Ross.

Image: Gilbert Baker in Ireland, via The Outmost