About

In the twenty-first century, pride flags are inseparable from LGBTQ+ communities. The rainbow flag, for example, is best known for its association with those who identify under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. Despite their prominence, however, finding any reference to pride flags in historical scholarship is a surprisingly challenging task. Given the historical importance of these symbols, this absence in the literature raises important research questions. Originating in the late 1970s for a pride march held in San Francisco, the rainbow pride flag has since become a globally recognisable symbol for the LGBTQ+ community. Just how the rainbow pride flag was able to transcend its geographical origins remains unanswered. At the heart of this project is the question of how, and why, the rainbow pride flag was able to attain this status. With a focus on London, Berlin, and New York, this project sets its sights on investigating the queer subcultures of these urban metropolitan spaces and their transnational connections. It proposes that within these networks we can trace transnational links by which the symbol was able to reach LGBTQ+ identifying communities outside of San Francisco. How these communities then played a part in elevating the rainbow pride flag, and subsequent identity-specific pride flags, to their globally recognised status today will be explored by the communities’ use of these flags at events such as pride marches/festivals. In exploring this history, and bringing new archival sources to bear, this project aims to rediscover a community’s lost history and highlight the origins of the rainbow pride flag’s power as a symbol of identification.