Learn All About the Different LGBTQ+ Pride Flags and What They Mean (2025)

Flags are a familiar symbol in our society, signifying everything from patriotic spirit to political causes and even support for or solidarity with social or cultural groups. And while you may already know about the brightly colored Pride flag that's often flown to signify that wherever it appears is a safe haven for LGBTQ+ people, a number of other LGBTQ+ flags have been created to represent specific segments of the queer community.

Much like the rainbow of identities they encompass, lots of different flags and configurations exist, and they may signify different things to different people. The LGBTQ+ population is a diverse one that encompasses a wide array of identities, so the number of flags for trans, bisexual, asexual, lesbian, agender, genderqueer and other identities allow people to express themselves or show public support for loved ones and the community at large in a more specific way.

Below, we've gathered some of the most common LGBTQ+ flags you may see around your community, as well as their names, history and meanings.

"A Rainbow Flag was a conscious choice, natural and necessary," Gilbert said, of the original Pride flag. "The rainbow came from earliest recorded history as a symbol of hope." Once demand for Baker's flag continued to grow, the pink and turquoise stripes were removed to make it easier to mass-produce. This is the flag you'll probably see the most frequently.

While the original 1978 flag represented a number of aspects of the LGBTQ+ community, its BIPOC members were not historically included. In 2017, a new flag was unveiled at Philadelphia City Hall. This flag included black and brown stripes to symbolize people of color. The Philly Pride flag was commissioned in partnership between Philadelphia’s Office of LGBT Affairs and design agency Tierney, according to the Philadelphia Enquirer.

In the interest of wider inclusion, the Progress Pride Flag includes not only black and brown stripes, but also the colors of the trans flag. The man behind the flag, Oregon-based designer Daniel Quasar, explained that the design is intended to improve its unity. “I wanted to see if there could be more emphasis in the design of the flag to give it more meaning,” he explained in his 2018 kickstarter campaign.

The trans pride flag, which has baby blue, pink and white stripes, was designed by trans woman Monica Helms in August 1999, according to Point of Pride. It first flew at a Phoenix, Arizona LGBTQ+ pride celebration the following year. The stripes' colors signify the traditional colors for baby boys and girls, as well as a white stripe, "for those who are intersex, transitioning or consider themselves having a neutral or undefined gender," Helms explained. "The pattern is such that no matter which way you fly it, it is always correct, signifying us finding correctness in our lives.”

In Greek mythology, the double-headed battleaxe known as a labrys was the symbol of the Greek goddess Demeter and the Amazons, a tribe of warrior women. The lesbian radical feminist movement of the 1970s adopted it as a symbol of empowerment, and the symbol still appears on flags today.

The bisexual pride flag was designed by Michael Page and unveiled in 1998, according to Pride.com. The top 40% of the flag is pink, the middle 20% is purple and the bottom 40% is blue, representing attraction to multiple genders as well as the overlap between the two traditional "boy and girl" colors. The pink also references the pink triangles later adopted by AIDS activist group ACT UP in the 1980s. And the purple can also be seen as a nod to the "purple menace," a slang term for bisexual people.

A polysexual person is attracted to many — but not all — genders. It was designed by tumblr user Samlin and posted there in 2012. “I, as a poly individual, was greatly saddened by the fact that we don’t have a flag…so I made one," they wrote. "I made it similar to the bi and pan flags, since they’re all in under the multisexual umbrella." The colors and design of the flag are based off the bisexual and pansexual flags, borrowing the blue and pink, and replacing the purple and yellow stripes with a green one.

The demisexual flag has the same colors as the asexual flag, but its own configuration to differentiate it. While it's unclear where the flag itself came from, user sonofzeal coined the term in 2006 on the forums of AVEN. The writer explained that he felt neither completely asexual nor completely non-asexual, so "demisexual" helped him more accurately describe the experience of needing an emotional connection in order to experience sexual attraction.

In 2013, the Morgan Carpenter of Intersex Human Rights Australia chose yellow and purple as the intersex flag colors because they aren't traditionally associated with any one gender, according to Queerintheworld.com. The circle is described by the center as “unbroken and unornamented, symbolizing wholeness and completeness and our potentialities. We are still fighting for bodily autonomy and genital integrity, and this symbolizes the right to be who and how we want to be."

A different version of the polyamory pride flag came on the scene in 2017, after the University of Northern Colorado Poly Community redesigned it with an infinity symbol in the middle instead of the original pi. In the poly and ENM community, the infinity symbol represents the infinite love for multiple partners at the same time.