The Pride flag is a great example of design being utilized as a means for social change! You may have noticed the various different Pride flag variations that are being flown. The original Pride flag, created in 1978 by artist Gilbert Baker, was designed as a symbol to unify the queer community. Originally the flag had eight colors, each with their own meaning, but was later edited down to six colors to make it easier to mass produce. In 2017, Philadelphia unveiled an edited Pride flag which included black and brown stripes to highlight black and brown members of the LGBT community. It was the first time a major institution had ever modified the Pride flag as a way to emphasize the racial diversity of the community. In 2018, designer Daniel Quasar introduced a new design he called the “Progress” Pride flag (seen above) that added to and edited the Philadelphia design. Quasar states, “The trans flag stripes and marginalized community stripes were shifted to the Hoist of the flag and given a new arrow shape. The arrow points to the right to show forward movement, while being along the left edge shows that progress still needs to be made.” Happy Pride month from Riverzedge Arts
Pride Month
