“He just was so impressed by the diversity of the crowd that this idea of this rainbow of humanity hit him like a brick,” Beal says. Later, Baker was out dancing at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco when he became inspired for how the flag should look. It was Baker, Beal says, who proposed that the symbol actually take the shape of a flag. Baker, an openly gay artist and civil rights activist, designed the rainbow flag in 1978. Rainbow flag creator Gilbert Baker poses at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) on Januin New York City. Milk, along with friend Cleve Jones, approached Baker to get his thoughts on creating a potential symbol. Among them was Harvey Milk, city supervisor of San Francisco and the first openly gay official in the U.S. And now, 43 years later, a fragment has been discovered and is coming home to San Francisco.Ĭharles Beal, president of the Gilbert Baker Foundation and friend of Baker’s, recalls how Baker came up with the idea.Īt the time, there wasn’t a strong symbol within the LGBTQ community, leading many to express the desire to create one. In 1978, the original pride flag was created by artist, activist and drag queen Gilbert Baker. (Wojtek Radwanski/AFP/Getty Images) This article is more than 1 year old.
