23 LGBTQ+ Pride Flags and What They Represent

The brightly colored flags you may see on social media or in person to celebrate Pride and support LGBTQ+ rights serve an important purpose. You might be familiar with the traditional rainbow pride flag, but there are many groups of people within the vast LGBTQ+ community. Those groups have their own flags and histories.

Read on to learn about 23 pride flags and their meanings to people in the LGBTQ+ community. Get to know the various flags and their history, whether you are in the LGBTQ+ community or identify as straight and want to be an ally. It's not an exhaustive list, but it's a good place to start.

The Importance of Pride Flags

The different pride flags help people find others who share their sexual or gender identity: "Having a wide range of flags helps those groups feel more seen and offers them a simple visual way to identify themselves to others if or when they want to," Jo Eckler, PsyD, a clinical psychologist based in Texas, told Health.

The bigger picture is that a flag is more than simply a flag. LGBTQ+ identity intersects with all aspects of health—including mental, physical, and sexual health. LGBTQ+ people often do not receive the same level of care as others. A 2017 survey by the Center for American Progress found that one in 10 LGBTQ+ people reported adverse outcomes in healthcare settings. Nearly three in 10 transgender people reported being refused care because of their gender identity.

People who are not comfortable with their identity are likelier to have health problems than others, Kevin Nadal, PhD, author of "Microaggressions and Traumatic Stress," told Health. Pride flags help people feel a sense of community and celebrate each person's unique identity.

1. Original Rainbow Pride Flag

Artist Gilbert Baker designed the original rainbow pride flag in 1978 after witnessing several hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community. Baker set out to decorate the Gay Freedom Day Parade in 1978 after former Mayor of San Francisco Dan White shot and murdered Harvey Milk. Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors.

The original rainbow flag consisted of eight differently colored stripes, each one holding a specific meaning. From top to bottom, the colors and their meanings were:

• Pink: Sex
• Red: Life
• Orange: Healing
• Yellow: Sunlight
• Green: Nature
• Turquoise: Magic and art
• Indigo: Serenity/Harmony
• Violet: Spirit

2. Traditional Rainbow Pride Flag

The traditional rainbow pride flag became popular in 1979. Distributors were unable to obtain enough pink fabric. Distributors then dropped the turquoise stripe since the uneven number did not allow activists to fly their flags easily. The resulting six-stripe flag is the version that most people may be familiar with.

3. More Color More Pride Flag

The rainbow flag underwent further changes in 2017. Philadelphia campaign group More Color More Pride added two stripes, one black and the other brown, to the traditional rainbow flag. This effort helped bring in support for racial diversity within the LGBTQ+ community. Screenwriter Lena Waithe wore the More Color More Pride flag as a cape to the Met Gala in 2018 to show support for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) members of the LGBTQ+ community.

4. "Progress" Pride Flag

Artist Daniel Quasar campaigned for an updated version of the traditional rainbow pride flag in 2018. Quasar's reboot aimed to be inclusive of queer BIPOC and transgender people and those with HIV/AIDS.

The "progress" pride flag features white, pink, and blue stripes to represent the transgender community on the hoist. There are also brown and black stripes to represent BIPOC members. The main section of the flag features the traditional rainbow pride flag.

5. Bisexual Pride Flag

Michael Page learned many bisexual people like himself felt no connection to the rainbow pride flag. Page created a flag as a new representative symbol in 1998.

The bisexual pride flag has three sections: The top 40% is magenta, the middle 20% is lavender, and the bottom 40% is royal blue. The magenta stands for same-sex attraction, while the blue stands for opposite-sex attraction. In the middle of the flag, the lavender is a mixture of magenta and blue, representing attraction to all genders.

6. Lesbian Labrys Pride Flag

There are a number of flags representing lesbian pride. The lesbian labrys pride flag takes inspiration from Greek mythology. The Amazons were a tribe of warrior women who wielded the double-headed labrys axe in Ancient Greece. Lesbian feminists adopted the labrys axe as a symbol during the 1970s.

The black triangle on the flag refers to the marking used to identify lesbians in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust. The lesbian community later reclaimed the symbol. Graphic designer Sean Campbell brought the labrys and the black triangle together on one flag in 1999.

7. Lipstick Lesbian Pride Flag

Artist Natalie McCray created the lipstick lesbian pride flag to represent femme lesbians in 2010. Femme lesbians adopt a traditionally feminine expression of their gender identities. The flag features stripes in shades of pink and red, a white bar in the center, and a lipstick kiss symbol in the top left corner.

Some lesbians are uncomfortable being represented by the lipstick lesbian pride flag after McCray made bigoted comments online. Others have criticized the flag for excluding butch lesbians, who adopt a traditionally masculine expression of their gender identities.

8. New Lesbian Pride Flag

Emily Gwen later modified the lesbian pride flag to be inclusive of all lesbians. Gwen removed the lipstick kiss symbol and added orange stripes to the top part of the new lesbian pride flag.

From top to bottom, the seven stripes of the flag represent:

• Gender non-conformity
• Independence
• Community
• Unique relationships to womanhood
• Serenity and peace
• Love and sex
• Femininity

The lesbian community generally accepts Gwen's creation. The flag represents butch, femme, and gender non-conforming lesbians.

9. Pansexual Pride Flag

Nobody knows who designed the pansexual pride flag, which first appeared online around 2010. The flag consists of three stripes to symbolize pansexuality, which is attraction regardless of gender or attraction to all genders.

From top to bottom, the stripes and their meanings are:

• Pink: Attraction to women
• Yellow: Attraction to people who identify as genderqueer, non-binary, agender, or androgynous
• Blue: Attraction to men

10. Intersex Pride Flag

Intersex people are born with variations in sex characteristics, including chromosomes, sex hormones, and genitals. Intersex people might not conform to the social expectations of cisgender men or women. It's fitting that the intersex pride flag stays away from the blue and pink. People traditionally associate those colors with being masculine and feminine.

Bioethicist Morgan Carpenter designed the intersex pride flag in 2013: "The circle is unbroken and unornamented, symbolizing wholeness and completeness, and our potentialities," wrote Carpenter in a statement for the advocacy group Intersex Human Rights Australia. "We are still fighting for bodily autonomy and genital integrity, and this symbolizes the right to be who and how we want to be."

11. Asexual Pride Flag

Asexual is a term that represents people who have limited or no sexual feelings or desires. A member of the Asexuality Visibility and Education Network (AVEN) created the asexual pride flag in 2010 as part of a contest.

From top to bottom, the stripes and their meanings are:

• Black: Asexuality
• Gray: Gray-asexuality or demisexuality
• White: Allies
• Purple: The asexual community

12. Transgender Pride Flag

Transgender activist and author Monica Helms designed the transgender pride flag in 1999. The flag includes a white stripe in the middle, flanked by one pale blue and one pale pink stripe on the top and bottom. Pale blue and pale pink traditionally represent boys and girls. The white stripe represents people who identify as intersex, are transitioning, or have not yet identified their gender.

13. Genderqueer Pride Flag

Genderqueer writer and advocate Marilyn Roxie designed the genderqueer pride flag in 2011. The flag features lavender, white, and chartreuse stripes.

Roxie chose lavender to represent androgyny and queer identities since it's a mix of pink and blue. The white stripe, like the transgender pride flag, stands for agender or gender-neutral identities. The chartreuse stripe, which is the inverse of lavender, represents third-gender identities and identities that do not fall within the gender binary.

14. Genderfluid Pride Flag

JJ Poole created the genderfluid pride flag in 2012. Poole felt disappointed by the lack of symbols to represent their identity. The genderfluid pride flag has five horizontal stripes.

From top to bottom, the stripes and their meanings are:

• Pink: Femininity
• White: All genders
• Purple: Both femininity and masculinity
• Black: A lack of gender
• Blue: Masculinity

15. Agender Pride Flag

Salem X created the agender pride flag in 2014. In an interview with Deramin, Salem X described that time as a "huge influx of identities, pronouns, and other means of personalizing one's identity."

Agender refers to someone who does not identify with any particular gender. The flag features a green stripe in the center, representing non-binary genders. The black and white stripes stand for an absence of gender. The gray strip represents semi-genderlessness.

16. Non-Binary Pride Flag

Kye Rowan created the non-binary pride flag in 2014 to represent non-binary people who feel that the genderqueer flag does not represent them. From top to bottom, the flag features four stripes, which are:

• Yellow: People whose gender exists outside the gender binary
• White: People with many or all genders
• Purple: The fluidity and flexibility of many genders and those who are considered a mix of male and female
• Black: Agender and other genderless identities

17. Intersex-Inclusive "Progress" Pride Flag

Intersex writer and founder of the organization Intersex Equality Rights UK (IERUK) Valentino Vecchetti designed this updated "progress" pride flag in 2021. The flag features an additional yellow stripe with a purple circle at its center on the hoist to represent intersex people.

"Please know that our intention for this flag is to create intersex inclusion because we need to see it," the IERUK shared in an Instagram post showcasing the updated flag.

18. Polysexual Pride Flag

Tumblr user "Samlin" designed the polysexual pride flag in 2012. Polysexuality is attraction to multiple genders, but not all of them.

From top to bottom, the polysexual pride flag has three stripes, which are purple, green, and blue. They represent attraction to women, people who do not conform to either woman or man, and men.

19. Straight Ally Pride Flag

Nobody knows who created the straight ally pride flag, which dates back to the late 2000s. The flag celebrates all straight and cisgender people who are proud allies of the LGBTQ+ community.

The flag features black and white stripes, representing the gender binary, overlaid by an A-shaped rainbow. The A stands for both "ally" and "activist." This symbol shows a commitment to supporting and advancing LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion.

20. Demisexual Pride Flag

Nobody knows who created the demisexual pride flag or when it first appeared. Demisexual is sexually attraction to another person only after forming an emotional bond.

A singular black triangle on the hoist represents asexuality. From top to bottom, there are three stripes: white, purple, and gray. These colors represent sexuality, community, asexuality, and demisexuality.

21. Aromantic Pride Flag

Aromantic people never or rarely experience romantic attraction. In contrast, people who identify as aromantic may feel sexual attraction to others. Tumblr user "cameronwhimsy," or Cameron, unveiled the aromantic pride flag in 2014.

From top to bottom, the aromantic pride flag features five stripes:

• Dark green: Aromanticism
• Light green: The aromantic spectrum
• White: "Aesthetic" attraction, which means objectively finding someone beautiful without being sexually or romantically interested in them
• Gray: Gray-aromantic and demiromantic people
• Black: The sexuality spectrum

22. Demigender Pride Flag

Demigender refers to partial gender. The LGBTQ+ community employs the term as a catch-all for people who are non-binary but have a partial connection to a certain gender.

The flag features a white stripe in the middle, which represents people who identify as agender or a third gender. Flanking the white stripe on the top and bottom are dark gray, light gray, and yellow. Those stripes represent the gender binary and non-binary genders.

Two variations of the demigender flag are the demi-girl and demi-boy flags. Those flags replace the yellow stripes with pink and blue stripes.

23. Androgynous Pride Flag

The androgynous pride flag represents those who have both feminine and masculine identities. Androgynous people do not always have an equal measure of each identity.

The flag features an "equals" symbol—one blue stripe for masculinity and one pink stripe for femininity. The symbol is on a gray background, symbolizing the gray area between those two genders.

A Quick Review

You might be familiar with the traditional rainbow flag, but several pride flags exist. Those flags are important symbols in the LGBTQ+ community. Each flag represents a unique gender, romantic, or sexual identity and provides a sense of belonging to members. Those identities interact with your mental, physical, and sexual health, so recognizing and celebrating them is important.