Symbols of Pride

Symbols of Pride Gay & Lesbian Pride Symbols and their meanings… Pink Triangle Blah, blah, blah… Black Triangle Blah, blah, blah… Gender Symbols Blah, blah, blah… Trans Symbol Blah, blah, blah… Bi Flag Blah, blah, blah… Lambda Blah, blah, blah… Rainbow Flag Blah, blah, blah… Flag Colors Blah, blah, blah…

The Rainbow Flag Probably one of the most well-known symbols of the GLBT community, the Rainbow Flag first appeared in the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade. Borrowing symbolism from the hippie movement and black civil rights groups, San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker designed the rainbow flag in response to a need for a symbol that could be used year after year.

Colors of the Flag Red -----life Orange -----healing Yellow -----sun Green -----nature Blue/Indigo -----harmony Purple -----spirit The flag originally contained 8 colors… The two missing colors are Hot Pink to represent sex and Turquoise to represent art.

The Pink Triangle The Pink Triangle is another popular and widely-recognized symbols for the gay community. The pink triangle is rooted in World War II times, and reminds us of the tragedies of that era. Although homosexuals were only one of the many groups targeted for extermination by the Nazi regime, it is unfortunately the group that history often excludes. The pink triangle challenges that notion, and defies anyone to deny history.

The Black Triangle Black Triangle is also rooted in Nazi Germany. Although lesbians were not included in the Paragraph 175 prohibition of homosexuality, there is evidence to indicate that the black triangle was used to designate prisoners with anti-social behavior. Considering that the Nazi idea of womanhood focused on children, kitchen, and church, black triangle prisoners may have included lesbians, prostitutes, women who refused to bear children, and women with other "anti-social" traits.

Lambda No one seems to have a definitive answer why the Lambda was originally chosen as a gay symbol. Some suggest that it is simply the Greek lower-case letter l for liberation. Others disagree, citing the use of lambda in physics to denote energy (the energy we have when we work in concert) or wavelength (are gays and lesbians on a different wavelength?). Lambda may also denote the synergy of the gay movement, the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The lambda also may represent scales and balance, and the constant force that keeps opposing sides from overcoming each other -- the hook at the bottom of the right leg signifies the action needed to reach and maintain balance. The ancient Greek Spartans regarded the lambda to mean unity, while the Romans considered it "the light of knowledge shed into the darkness of ignorance."

Bisexual Pride Flag Bisexual Pride Flag The pink color represents sexual attraction to the same sex only (gay and lesbian), the blue represents sexual attraction to the opposite sex only (straight) and the resultant overlap color purple represents sexual attraction to both sexes (bi).

IFGE Trans Logo The IFGE (International Foundation for Gender Education) Logo, or Transgender symbol, is the widely recognized symbol for or crossdressers, transvestites, transsexuals and transgenderists. It links the internationally accepted symbols for male and female together with a new entity, which is a combination of the two. The astrological sign of Mercury is also usually associated with Trans. Individuals.

Interlocking M/F Symbols The gender symbols were originally common astrological signs coming from Roman times. The interlocking Male symbols have been used since the 1970's as a symbol of pride for gay men. The interlocking Female symbols are used as a lesbian pride symbol. Some feminists also use the double female symbol (one ring with two crosses) as a symbol of sisterhood among women.