A Pride Flag of Progress

by Michael Mongera - He/Him

The newly updated pride flag showcases the LGBTQIA's mission to include and represent the community.

As a long-standing symbol of the LGBTQIA community, the Rainbow flag has seen many iterations to include all facets of our community. The newest rendition includes the intersex pride symbol. The intersex flag itself features a yellow channel with a purple circle to represent those who identify as intersex individuals. Intersex designer Valentina Vecchietti worked with Intersex Equality Rights U.K. to incorporate the yellow channel and purple circle into the Progress Flag.

These colors now rest along the white, pink, light blue, brown, and black chevron of the Progress Pride. The latter colors were introduced in 2018 to include marginalized people of color, trans individuals, and those living with HIV/AIDS, whether alive or to those we have lost. Visually, those communities are represented by chevron along the hoist of the flag.

The Pride flag has adapted to previous movements to represent pressing issues. Other variants of the pride flag include an American flag styled rainbow, with the red and white stripes replaced with rainbow colors.

Fun Fact: The original pride flag incorporated a pink stripe to represent sexuality but was unable to make it to print due to a lack of available colored fabric.

About the Author

Michael Mongera Michael Mongera is a native from Cambridge Springs PA, A 2019 graduate of Mercyhurst University, Mongera received his Bachelor’s in Communication. During this time, he was the co president of Mercyhurst’s literary magazine, LUMEN for 2 years. Mongera has also contributed to articles for The Merciad, and Erie Reader Magazine. He currently works for Mission Support for Air Force/COCOMS/4th Estate for FRC.