Happy Pride 2021!
Happy Pride, dear pole friends!
We thought in honor of Pride, we'd share some history on the Pride Flag. You may have noticed that the flag we have hanging up front in the studio looks a little different - it’s a nod to the very original Pride flag design.
The history of the Pride Flag goes back to the 1970s, and the design has changed numerous times over the years. The very first flag was designed by Gilbert Baker, a friend of San Francisco’s openly gay City Supervisor Harvey Milk. The eight-color flag first flew over the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade in June of 1978.
From top to bottom, the original colors represent sex (pink), life (red), healing (orange), sunlight (yellow), nature (green), magic and art (turquiose), serenity (indigo), and spirit (violet). The intention behind the flag was to give the gay rights movement a hopeful symbol for a new era of gay liberation. The previous symbol used to signify the gay rights movement, was the pink triangle. It was a symbol the Nazis used to identify and exterminate LGBTQ+ people. The new flag symbolized leaving behind the shame of the past and moving forward with pride.
The best-known, six-stripe version of the rainbow pride flag was established the following year, in 1979. At the time, hot pink was a non-standard color in flag fabric production, and deemed too costly to reproduce, so it was dropped from the flag. The turquoise and indigo stripes were also dropped in favor of royal blue when organizers of San Francisco’s Gay Freedom Day Parade wanted to split the flag in half to fly across the street and wanted equal stripes on both sides.
As the movement continues to progress and change, we feel it is also important to honor and keep LGBTQ+ history alive. From Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, and Harvey Milk to the Pulse Nightclub and so many others whose voices have been lost, Pride is our chance to keep their memory alive and to pass their stories onto the next generation as we continue working towards full equality and acceptance. The Pride flag is a piece of living history.
The flag has seen more changes since, and continues to evolve as others strive to be more inclusive and bring more visibility to disenfranchised groups. If you’re interested to learn even more about the history of the Pride Flag, check out this wonderful write-up!
At Ascendance, you are valid, accepted, and welcome, no matter who you are. Dance offers a beautiful medium to express all parts of yourself and we are privileged to be a part of so many student’s journeys of self empowerment and discovery and acceptance of themselves and others.
Happy Pride!!