A New ‘Progress Pride’ Flag Acknowledges Trans and Queer People of Color With an Arrow
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Last year when Philadelphia unveiled its “new Pride flag” featuring a brown and black stripe among the six usual rainbow colors, the flag was met with mixed reactions. Some people loved the bold inclusivity in addressing racism in our community, while others considered the new stripes’ inclusion needlessly divisive or just badly designed. Now, a queer, non-binary demisexual designer in Oregon, Daniel Quasar, has created the “progress Pride flag” with its brown and black stripes shaped into an arrow alongside pink and baby blue stripes from the transgender flag, to show the need for progress among HIV-positive, trans and QPOC communities.
Quasar writes, “I felt there needed to be more thought put into the design and emphasis of the flag to give it more meaning.”
On a Kickstarter looking to raise $14,000 to mass-produce the flag, Quasar explains the design. “The six-stripe LGBT flag should be separated from the newer stripes because of their difference in meaning, as well as to shift focus and emphasis to what is important in our current community climate.”
Quasar continues, “The trans flag and marginalized community stripes were shifted to the Hoist of the flag and given a new arrow shape. The arrow points to the right to show forward movement, while being along the left edge shows that progress still needs to be made.”
Quasar also explains the colors of the flag. Red represents life; orange, healing; yellow, sunlight; green, nature; blue, peace and harmony; purple, spirit; light blue, light pink and white, trans individuals; black and brown, marginalized QPOC communities; black, those living with HIV, those no longer living and those surrounded by stigma.
Shortly after the release of the Philadelphia Pride flag last year, someone created a “resistance Pride flag” featuring a clenched fist in every skin color. Some people criticized it for co-opting the raised fist, commonly understood as a symbol of black power.
The original rainbow flag design was created in 1976 by Gilbert Baker. It had eight stripes, including a magenta strip for sexuality and a light blue stripe for magic. Baker died on March 31, 2017.
