(Newswire.net — January 11, 2022) — You might have seen the rainbow flag flying high at various Pride celebrations in different parts of the world. However, many LGBTQ+ communities have also designed modified versions of the rainbow flag to display their unique emotions.
It is possible to find even hundreds of variations of the lesbian pride flag but each one of them represents some valuable feelings and thoughts of the LGBTQ communities. Although there is no officially recognized lesbian flag, the one with different shades of red, white, and pink is used more than others around the world. These color combinations in this flag are mainly created to represent all lesbians; however, some people believe that it is linked to only femme or lipstick lesbians. Therefore, some people also prefer using a rainbow flag with a lipstick mark on the top left corner.
Note that the lesbian flag with lipstick mark is derived from the original simple rainbow flag and it came out to the public in the year 2010. There are many different thoughts and opinions about these flags; some believe that it was the first version; however, others argue that it was a derived version. Many lesbians also refuse to use any flag derived from the lipstick version due to the reported racist, trans-phobic, and bi-phobic comments of designer McCray.
One more rainbow flag was created by some designers at a later stage and among them, one shared by Emily Gwen on Twitter got immensely famous around the world. This flag had unique combinations of pink, orange and white colors with the unique meaning of each shade in the rainbow.
Although it is common to find several unique versions of the rainbow flag and they are repeatedly used by lesbian communities; some studies reveal that the oldest lesbian flag was designed in 1999 by Sean Campbell, a gay graphic designer. It is possible to find many designs of this flag also, but the main thing followed in this creation was the black upside triangle. It was an effort to repurpose a symbol that lesbians during World War II were forced to wear. The labrys inside flag has a lavender or purple color which has a long association with lesbianism.
Last year, some lesbian communities revised the bi flag again and came out with a Progress Flag. The person behind this new design is Daniel Quasar and the main addition is five extra stripes where white, light pink, and light blue indicate trans individuals; black and brown link to marginalized POC communities and AIDS-affected people. Some reports reveal that intersex, trans and bisexual people often feel invisible in the LGBTQI community. Therefore, they have now worked on a new flag that shows equal respect to their existence as well. Several social media channels are promoting this flag these days and LGBTQ communities around the world are giving different reactions to this modification.
As there are so many gender variations in lesbian communities, they all have different preferences for pride flags and take some unique meanings out of every color and shape.