Gilbert Baker, an artist and activist credited with creating the LGBT community's iconic rainbow flag, died Thursday night in his sleep at his home in New York City. He was 65. Baker, who taught himself how to sew after leaving the Army, had the idea to create the first rainbow flag as a symbol to unite San Francisco's LGBT community; other rejected symbols included a pink triangle and the Greek letter Lambda, San Francisco Gate reports. "I decided that we should have a flag, that a flag fit us as a symbol, that we are a people, a tribe if you will," Baker said at the Museum of Modern Art in 2015. "And flags are about proclaiming power, so it's very appropriate." The flag made its debut at the 1978 Gay Freedom Day Parade as an eight-colored banner, with each color representing a certain meaning: sexuality (pink), life (red), healing (Orange), sunlight (yellow), nature (green), art (turquoise), harmony (indigo) and the human spirit (violet). The fla...
Comments
Post a Comment