By 1977, San Francisco had elected the first openly gay man to public office: Harvey Milk. A decade after the Stonewall riots, it was slowly becoming more acceptable to be openly gay. In 1970s San Francisco, the gay rights movement was picking up steam. Instead, the community needed a fresh, uplifting symbol that was defined for themselves. However, many were not comfortable with this symbol, because of it’s dark history of being utilized in Nazi Germany to identify homosexuals. But where did this now-iconic symbol originate?įor much of the 20th century, the pink triangle was the most widely-used symbol for the LGBT community. This time of year, cities across the country are flying rainbow flags in celebration of pride month. Rainbow Evolution: The changing face of pride flags
