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From the rainbow flag to newer designs, learn what each flag represents.
Pride flags are more than colorful designs—they’re symbols of identity, visibility, and community. Over time, different flags have emerged to represent the diversity of LGBTQ+ experiences, helping people express who they are and find belonging.
This page explains the most common pride flags, what each one means, and why they exist—using clear language and straightforward descriptions. Whether you’re seeing a flag for the first time or want to better understand one you already recognize, you’re in the right place.
There isn’t just one way to be LGBTQ+. As language, understanding, and visibility have evolved, so have the symbols people use to represent themselves.
Different pride flags exist to:
Each flag is a way of saying: this identity exists, and it matters.
Below is a guide to many of the pride flags you may see at Pride events, online, or in communities. Each flag represents an identity, history, or shared experience—and each exists because people wanted a way to be seen.
Designed by Gilbert Baker, the original Pride flag included eight colors, each representing a value such as life, healing, and spirit. It’s the foundation for many pride flags that followed.
A version of the original rainbow design that honors its creator and the flag’s roots in LGBTQ+ liberation and visibility.
The most widely recognized Pride flag today, representing the LGBTQ+ community as a whole and used broadly as a symbol of inclusion.
Adds black and brown stripes to the rainbow flag to highlight the importance of racial inclusion and to uplift LGBTQ+ people of color.
Builds on earlier designs by incorporating stripes representing transgender people and LGBTQ+ people of color, emphasizing that progress and inclusion are ongoing.
Centers LGBTQ+ people of color and acknowledges the intersection of racial identity and queer identity.
Represents LGBTQ+ people of African descent and celebrates cultural identity alongside sexual orientation and gender identity.
Represents transgender and gender-diverse people. The design emphasizes visibility, pride, and affirmation across gender experiences.
Represents people whose gender identity exists outside the traditional male/female binary.
Symbolizes identities that challenge or exist outside conventional gender norms.
Represents people whose gender identity may shift or change over time.
Represents people who identify as having no gender or a neutral gender.
Represents Indigenous people who identify as Two-Spirit—a cultural and spiritual identity that exists outside Western gender frameworks.
Represents lesbian identity and community. Several versions exist, reflecting evolving language and representation over time.
Represents attraction to more than one gender, with overlapping colors symbolizing shared experiences.
Represents attraction regardless of gender identity or expression.
Represents attraction to multiple—but not necessarily all—genders.
Represents people who experience little or no sexual attraction.
Represents people who experience little or no romantic attraction.
Represents people who experience sexual attraction primarily after forming a strong emotional bond.
Represents people who experience romantic attraction primarily after emotional connection.
Represents people whose sexual orientation may change or fluctuate over time.
Represents people born with variations in sex characteristics. The design avoids gendered symbolism, emphasizing bodily autonomy.
An updated Progress Pride design that explicitly includes intersex representation.
Represents people who engage in or identify with consensual non-monogamous relationships.
Represents people who are not LGBTQ+ but actively support LGBTQ+ rights and inclusion.
Represents drag performers and drag culture as forms of self-expression and art.
Represents the bear subculture within the gay community, emphasizing body diversity and camaraderie.
Represents the leather and kink communities, emphasizing consent, identity, and expression.
Represents the rubber and latex subculture within LGBTQ+ communities.
A historical lesbian pride flag featuring feminist symbolism and references to strength and resistance.
Represents gay men while explicitly affirming trans and gender-diverse inclusion within the community.
For many people, seeing their flag for the first time is deeply emotional. It can mean:
Pride flags help create safer spaces—at schools, workplaces, homes, and events—by signaling inclusion and respect.
You may come across pride flags you don’t recognize yet. That doesn’t mean they’re “too many” or unnecessary. It usually means:
Learning what a flag means is often the first step toward understanding the person who flies it.
PFLAG San Francisco offers resources, education, and community support for LGBTQ+ people and their families.
