Wednesday, 4 June 2025

what the lgbtq inclusive flag mean (produced by the Human Right Commission) https://www.hrc.org/

LGBTQ+ Pride Flags

Produced by the HRC Foundation

In the LGBTQ+ community, we signify our pride with flags. With many different identities in the community, there comes many different flags to know. We have collected all of the flags and a guide to learn about all of the different colors of our community’s rainbow. We know that this may not be all of the flags that represent our community, but we will update the page as new flags become popular!

Explore the flag collection below! See a flag's name by hovering or clicking on the flag.

Umbrella Flags

  • Gilbert Baker Pride Flag
  • Traditional Pride Flag
  • Philadelphia Pride Flag
  • Progress Pride Flag
  • Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag
  • Queer Pride Flag

The original Pride Flag was created in 1978 after activist Harvey Milk asked artist Gilbert Baker to design a symbol of gay pride. Each color represents a different part of the LGBTQ+ community: hot pink represents sex, red symbolizes life, orange stands for healing, yellow equals sunlight, green stands for nature, turquoise symbolizes magic and art, indigo represents serenity, while violet symbolizes the spirit of LGBTQ+ people.

After the assassination of Harvey Milk, the rainbow flag was in high demand. Due to manufacturing issues, the hot pink stripe was removed. The turquoise stripe was removed from the flag as a design choice from Baker. The six color pride flag has represented the community for over 40 years and is still one of the most common LGBTQ+ flags.

The Philadelphia Pride Flag was unveiled at the city’s pride event in 2017. The Philadelphia City Council commissioned the creation of this flag as they wanted to incorporate queer communities of color that have often been overlooked in the mainstream LGBTQ+ movement. The addition of the black and brown stripes symbolize communities of color and their contribution to the movement.

The Progress Pride Flag evolved from the Philadelphia Pride Flag and was created by Daniel Quaser. Quasar added a white, pink, and light blue stripe to represent the Trans community. While the black and brown stripes still represented communities of color, the black stripe is also a nod the thousands of individuals that the community lost during the HIV/AIDS crisis in 1980s and 1990s. Since its creation, the flag has become very popular.

The Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag adds the intersex community to the Progress Pride Flag. With this update coming in 2021, this serves as the most up-to-date LGBTQ+ flag. The flag was created by Valentino Vecchietti of Intersex Equality Rights UK.

While this flag is not as well known, this is the Queer Pride Flag. Created in 2015, the flag represents all aspects of queerness as the label ‘queer’ has become more celebrated. The pink and blue shades represented same-gender attraction while the orange and green stripes stand for non-binary and gender non-confirming individuals. The black and white stripes symbolize asexual, aromantic, and the agender community.

Sexual Orientation Flags

  • Lesbian Pride Flag
  • Trans-Inclusive Gay Men's Pride Flag
  • Bisexual Pride Flag
  • Pansexual Pride Flag
  • Asexual Pride Flag
  • Demisexual Pride Flag
  • Polyamory Pride Flag
  • Polysexual Pride Flag

While there have been many iterations of the Lesbian Pride Flag, this has been in use since 2018. Since then, it has been widely accepted. The different shades of red, pink, and orange represent the different types of femininity in the lesbian community.

This is the second version of the Gay Men’s Pride Flag. The original only had green, blue and white. This version has different shades of green and blue to include non-cisgender gay men.

The Bisexual Flag was created in 1998 by Michael Page to bring awareness o the bisexual community. The pink represents bisexual’s attraction to the same gender while the blue represents the attraction to the opposite gender. The purple stripe in the middle represents attraction to two genders.

The Pansexual Pride Flag was created around 2010 in order to bring awareness to the community. Pansexual people are those who have the potential for emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction to people of any gender though not necessarily at the same time, in the same way or to the same degree. The pink stripe represents attraction to women while the blue stripe represents attraction to men. The yellow stripe is for everyone else in-between and beyond the gender binary.

The Asexual Pride Flag was created in 2010 following a contest by the Asexual Visibility and Education Network. Asexual individuals are people that do not have a sexual attraction to any gender. Each stripe has a different meaning: black represents asexuality, gray means gray-asexuality & demisexuality, whites stands for non-asexual partners and allies, and the purple represents community.

It is unknown when the Demisexual Pride Flag was created, but it represents people who only form sexual attraction for people once they have established a deep emotional connection with them. Each color has a different meaning: black represents asexuality, gray stands for demisexuality, white means sexuality, while purple represents community.

In 2021, over 30,000 members of the polyamorous community voted for this new Polyamory Pride Flag design by Red Howell, which created a contemporary approach to the traditional vexillological elements of the original flag from 1995, and represents elements around different core values including white for possibility, magenta for desire and love, blue for openness and honesty, gold for energy and perseverance and purple representing the united non-monogamous community.

The Polysexual Pride Flag was created online in 2012 for people that are attracted to multiple, yet not all, gender. The blue stripe represents attraction to men, pink stands for the attraction to women, while green is for attraction to those outside of the binary.

Tuesday, 3 June 2025

We won't forget or fail trans young people

 

Dear Jean-Francois,

  

 

As the CEO of the national charity for homeless LGBTQ+ young people and a member of the community myself, like many I was shocked by the recent UK Supreme Court ruling, which risks making it even harder to find safe places to live for young trans people.


In light of the ruling, akt is actively monitoring the impact that the ruling is already having on homeless young people and the services supporting them, as well as taking action to protect trans youth. 1 in 2 of the young people we currently support are trans or non-binary. We will always be here for them.

What does this mean for homeless young people

We know that LGBTQ+ young people’s needs and experiences are already too often dismissed by the mainstream, whether that is a refusal to acknowledge familial domestic violence, failure to respect identity, or not prioritising urgent cases for action.


This ruling could further limit access to essential services, meaning more sofa surfing, more staying in unsafe places, and more rough sleeping for vulnerable young people who are already at much greater risk of homelessness than their peers.


A young person with nowhere to go could be sent to a hostel that doesn't align with their identity. If that placement is refused because it's unsafe, a local authority might claim they no longer have a duty to house that young person.


For many young people, this adds yet another layer of uncertainty to lives already marked by rejection and instability.


akt is taking action

We are calling on mainstream housing and homelessness services to take a clear stance and state explicitly that their services are or will remain trans-inclusive.

We have raised concerns in Westminster at the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ending Homelessness and with ministers and officials in government..

akt has joined nearly 200 organisations in standing up for our community through the LGBT+ Sector Leaders Statement.


Together, we can raise our voices and drive real change for young people like Cleo.

Cleo's Story

Cleo came to us after rough sleeping near Manchester's Arndale Centre for a month. She had been kicked out by her family due to her mother's transphobia. Despite approaching Salford Council, she wasn't viewed as a priority for emergency housing, despite her obvious vulnerability.


When Cleo contacted akt on a Friday with nowhere to stay for the weekend, we immediately stepped in. As a trans woman with autism, rough sleeping left her particularly vulnerable. We funded emergency hotel accommodation to keep her safe that weekend.


The following Monday, we advocated strongly with the council to prioritise her for emergency accommodation. While she waited, we connected her with services for hot meals and provided essential food and hygiene products.


Working alongside housing officers, we ensured her autism and dyslexia were accommodated in the housing process. Eventually, we found Cleo suitable accommodation where she now feels "very hopeful and very welcomed."

At akt, we have always been, and will always be, here for any LGBTQ+ young people facing homelessness.


Thank you for standing with us,

Adam Pemberton Wickham (he/him) CEO, akt


P.S. If you're an LGBTQ+ young person reading this who feels unsafe at home, you are not alone. You can speak with a caseworker now via our website live chat.