Photos: The evolution of the rainbow flag
Gay Freedom Day Parade participants march through United Nations Plaza in San Francisco on June 25, 1978. The event drew gay and straight sympathizers from all across the nation who gathered to watch 100 decorated floats and 250 groups of banner-carrying marchers. The parade attracted an estimated 240,000, including participants, police said.
AP

In pictures: The evolution of the rainbow flag

Updated 1801 GMT (0201 HKT) June 24, 2022

Gay Freedom Day Parade participants march through United Nations Plaza in San Francisco on June 25, 1978. The event drew gay and straight sympathizers from all across the nation who gathered to watch 100 decorated floats and 250 groups of banner-carrying marchers. The parade attracted an estimated 240,000, including participants, police said.
AP

The rainbow flag, a symbol of the LGBTQ community, has been flown proudly in recent weeks as people across the United States take part in Pride Month celebrations.

But it hasn't always been as ubiquitous as it is today.

The flag was designed in 1978 by Gilbert Baker, a gay artist and activist who had been commissioned to design a symbol by his friend Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California.

Back then the flag had eight colors, not the six it has now. Each color carries a different meaning. For example, red represents life, while orange represents healing.

The first rainbow flag flew in San Francisco for its Gay Pride Day on June 25, 1978. It was hand-sewn and measured 30 by 60 feet. "We needed something to express our joy, our beauty, our power. And the rainbow did that," Baker said.

In 2018, the Progress Pride flag was created by Daniel Quasar, a non-binary artist and designer. Based on the iconic rainbow flag from 1978, the redesign celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQ community and calls for a more inclusive society.

Baker, who designed the original flag, died in 2017 at the age of 65, but as these photos show, his legacy lives on.

Harvey Milk at San Francisco's Gay Pride Parade in 1978.
Terry Schmitt/San Francisco Chronicle/AP
Gilbert Baker, the artist who designed the Rainbow Flag, making 500 new flags for an installation in 1998.
Jerry Telfer/San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images
A Pride flag is waved during the International Lesbian & Gay Freedom Day Parade in San Francisco in 1985.
Bromberger HooverPhotography/Getty Images
Retired U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Eric Bullen, of Westborough, Mass., left, holds an American flag as U.S. Army veteran Ian Ryan, of Dennis, Mass., front right, rolls up an OutVets banner after marching with a group representing LGBT military veterans in a 2014 Veterans Day parade in Boston. It was the first time a group representing LGBT military veterans marched in the parade.
Steven Senne/AP
The White House, lit up in the rainbow colors after the US Supreme Court's 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide. The Supreme Court ruled on June 15, 2020 that a landmark civil rights law protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination, handing the movement for LGBT equality a stunning victory.
Zach Gibson/The New York Times/Redux
Pride flags fluttering in the breeze in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
Alamy
Flags and pins for attendees during a Progressive Pride Flag ceremony at San Fernando City Hall on Wednesday, June 1, 2022 in California. In 2021, the San Fernando City Council adopted a resolution declaring June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Pride Month (LGBTQ+) in the city.
Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News/Getty Images
People display a flag featuring rainbow colors, in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, on Monday, June 15, 2020 when a landmark civil rights law was deemed as protecting gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination.
Anna Moneymaker/The New York Times/Redux
The U.S. and DC flags are flown alongside the Rainbow Flag outside of the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Washington, DC, after a gunman opened fire on a gay night club in Orlando in 2016.
Michael Hernandez/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Christopher Savin pumps his fist in frustration as he holds a Colorado pride flag during a 2018 rally at the Colorado State Capitol after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a bakery that refused to make a wedding cake for a same sex couple.
Aaron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post/Getty Images
The rainbow flag, waving at the state Capitol in Sacramento, California, in 2019 after Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered the flag be flown at the Capitol through July 1 in honor of Pride.
Rich Pedroncelli/AP
The Coca-Cola digital billboard in New York City's Times Square displays a rainbow flag on June 22, 2020.
Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images
US Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, center, helps raise the Progress Pride Flag outside the Department of Energy in Washington DC in June of 2021. To her left is Tarak Shah, who was the first person of color, first Indian-American and first openly LGBTQ person to serve as Chief of Staff for the D.O.E.
Andrew Harnik/AP
The Google logo is reconfigured to feature the rainbow flag in New York City on June 7, 2022 during Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month.
Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
A pride flag flies in downtown Eureka Springs, Arkansas, on June 21, 2022. Eureka Springs is considered a haven in the South for LGBTQ residents.
Rana Young for CNN
A creative crosswalk that resembles the Progressive Pride flag at an intersection in Austin, Texas, in commemoration of National Coming Out Day.
Mario Cantu/CSM/Zuma
A Progress Pride flag is flown in front of City Hall on June 1, 2021 in Orlando, Florida.
Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP
The corner flag with a rainbow for a Pride Night match at Red Bull Arena on June 4, 2022 in Harrison, New Jersey.
Ira L. Black/Corbis/Getty Images
McCall Zerboni of NJ/NY Gotham FC shows "rainbow" support during the Pride Night match against the Washington Spirit on June 4, 2022 in Harrison, New Jersey.
Ira L. Black/Corbis/Getty Images
An attendee wears rainbow socks and shoes during a rally in Provincetown, Massachusetts, on June 4, 2022.
Joseph Prezioso/AFP/Getty Images
A pedestrian with a Coach bag in New York City in June of 2022. The fashion brand released a 2022 Pride collection featuring bags, clothing and accessories adorned in the rainbow flag.
Tal Yellin/CNN
Pride flags are seen in The Gravel Bar at Wanderloo Lodge in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, on June 21, 2022.
Rana Young for CNN
Pride flags flying at Rockefeller Center in New York City on June 21, 2022.
Tal Yellin/CNN