Artist Gilbert Baker created the rainbow flag as a symbol of pride for the LGBTQ community in the 1970s. Here’s why he chose the colors and what they mean.

Marchers in the Key West Pride parade carry a 100-foot-long section of an iconic 1.25-mile-long rainbow flag Sunday, June 11, 2023, up Duval Street in Key West, Fla.

Since its creation in 1978, the Rainbow Pride Flag has become a universal symbol for the LGBTQ community. While the flag's image is well-recognized, its history may not be as well-known.

The rainbow really fits that, in terms of: we’re all the colors, and all the genders and all the races,” he later told Time magazine in 2015. “It’s a natural flag; the rainbow is in the ...