This weekend thousands will flock to Manchester to celebrate Pride at the Manchester Pride Festival!

Manchester Pride campaigns for LGBT+ equality, celebrates LGBT+ life and creates opportunities that engage LGBT+ people so they can thrive.

Manchester is a city to be proud of! Our Manchester studio would like to raise awareness for this wonderful weekend in their own way by sharing the history of the Rainbow Flag design!

Devised by world-famous political activist, designer and flag-maker Gilbert Baker (1951 - 2017), the original Rainbow Flag included 8 stripes in which Baker assigned specific meaning to each colour. 

Pink: Sex

Red: Life

Orange: Healing

Yellow: Sunlight

Green: Nature

Blue: Serenity

Indigo: Harmony

Violet: Spirit

The original flag flew at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25th, 1978.

The traditional flag we see now consists of 6 stripes: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Violet. Pink and Indigo were dropped because of their availability. The flags configuration now reflects that of an actual rainbow which was the main inspiration for the flag.

Our Manchester studio Lead Tradigital Artist Frederique LeBlanc brought the colours of the flag to life with her own Brown Bag take on the meaning of each colour:

“The rainbow is a part of nature, and you have to be in the right place to see it. It's beautiful, all of the colors, even the colors you can't see. That really fit us as a people because we are all of the colors. Our sexuality is all of the colors. We are all the genders, races, and ages.”

- Gilbert Baker

The Rainbow Flag has been used throughout history to celebrate the LGBT+ community. As a beacon of hope, liberation and pride.

Wishing Manchester a Happy Pride from all of us at Brown Bag Films!