Baker’s first rainbow flag design featured prominently at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade in June 1978, just a matter of months before Milk was, tragically, assassinated.
It was Milk who encouraged his friend, the gay activist Gilbert Baker, to develop the symbol. That incident led directly to the birth of the modern LGBTQ+ movement and the election of Harvey Milk to public office in California – one of the first openly gay people to achieve this in the US. The history of the rainbow flag can be traced back to the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City. Whether you consider this a welcome form of support for diversity and inclusion or simply opportunistic “rainbow-washing” on the part of some major brands, the adoption of the multi-coloured flag raises a number of interesting IP issues about ownership, appropriation and free use. It’s impossible to miss the rainbow flag during the annual Pride festivities, but these days this colourful banner is as likely to be found alongside a corporate logo as it is in the arms of a flag-waving LGBTQ+ activist. Support for diversity and inclusion or simply opportunistic “rainbow-washing”? What does the adoption of the rainbow mean for the credibility of an iconic symbol?
