Flag of the Day # – Transgender Pride Flag

Filed in National by jason330 on October 13, 2021

The transgender pride flag is a light blue, pink and white striped flag is used throughout the world to represent the transgender community. It was designed by American trans woman Monica Helms in 1999. Helms describes the meaning of the transgender pride flag as follows:

“The stripes at the top and bottom are light blue, the traditional color for baby boys. The stripes next to them are pink, the traditional color for baby girls. The stripe in the middle is white, for those who are transitioning or consider themselves having a neutral or undefined gender

Inspired by the Rainbow flag, which was designed when Gilbert Baker, was challenged by Harvey Milk to design a symbol of pride for the gay community that was a little more upbeat and forward looking than the Nazi’s pink triangle which was being used to signify gay pride prior to the adoption of the rainbow flag. Baker was up to the task, and the original gay pride flags flew at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade celebration on June 25, 1978.

In June 2018 designer Daniel Quasar incorporated elements from both the Gay Pride flag and Trans Pride flag to put the focus on inclusion and progress. That flag design immediately went viral as the Progress Pride Flag on social media. Wikipedia describes the flag as:

…retaining the common six-stripe rainbow design as a base, the “Progress” variation adds a chevron along the hoist that features black, brown, light blue, pink, and white stripes to bring those communities (marginalized people of color, trans individuals, and those living with HIV/AIDS and those who have been lost) to the forefront; “the arrow points to the right to show forward movement, while being along the left edge shows that progress still needs to be made.”

Incidentally, the pink triangle continued to be used and in the 1980’s became the symbol for more militant AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power (ACT UP) which conducted a series of successful direct action protests to draw attention to the homophobic Bush and Clinton administration’s approach to the AIDS crisis. The pink triangle on a black background with the words “Silence = Death” was the most visible symbol of gay pride and activism in Washington DC when I lived there in the 1990’s