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PRIDE! or: The Colors of Our Rainbow Flag

Pride Month is almost over and we wanted to share our interpretation of the flag's colors with you! We decided to go with the revised Philadelphia version from 2017. We always believed that the six-color flag is perfect; that it includes (or, at least, should include) everyone who feels to be part of the queer community. But this last month has taught us that, although the six-color flag should suffice, we should explicitly include BIPoC who did so much for our movement, but are still discriminated, harassed, disregarded, killed. So: we'll start with black!

Black is one of the two colors added to the revised rainbow flag. It draws attention to Black people of our community and their particular issues. For us, it also honors those who fought for our rights, particularly during the Stonewall riots—Marsha P. Johnson is probably the most prominent, but not the only one: Andrea Jenkins, Angela Davis, Audre Lorde, Bayard Rustin, Earl Fowlkes, Elle Hearns, Ernestine Eckstein, Karleigh Chardonnay Merlot, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, Phillipe Cunningham, and Stormé DeLarverie are a few other central figures in our joint fight. What we didn't know: HIV/AIDS activists created a version in the beginning of the HIV/AIDS pandemic that had a black stripe across the bottom. When a cure is found, the black stripe would be removed and burned. This version of the flag was appropriately called Victory over AIDS.

Brown is the second color that was added to the revised flag. Similar to the black stripe, it explicitly includes the issues of people of color. Again, we feel that it also honors the fighters of color who stood for queer equality—for everyone. Among these fighters are Angie Xtravaganza, Dennis deLeon, Felicia Elizondo, Isa Noyola, Jeanne Córdova, José Sarria, Lorena Borjas, Richard Adams, Sylvia Rivera, and William Brandon Lacy Campos. But again, these are just a few names.

Red symbolizes life. Luckily, all of us writing and reading this are alive. But we lost so many people: to racism, to homo-, bi-, trans-, intersexphobia (all of which are not phobias, keep that in mind!), to HIV/AIDS. Some in our community suffer from all of these. So, while the red color should remind us to celebrate our lives and loves, we shouldn't forget that we lost and keep losing too many of our own, particularly to hate crimes. Never stop standing in for each other!

Orange stands for healing. Although our community has come a far way since the Stonewall riots, there is still a lot to do. Being queer must be decriminalized. People who have been convicted for being queer must be vindicated. Therapies aiming to 'heal' queer people (a.k.a. turn straight)—often children, teenagers, and young adults!—must be forbidden. Healing for our community means: acceptance and equality.

Yellow represents sunlight. We love sunlight and as sunlight raises our mood, you should raise yourselves up! Be proud of who and what you are! Celebrate who and what you are! Show it to the world, let your sun shine, affect others. Never hide your true selves, you are perfect the way you are! 

Green symbolizes nature. Although both of us spent quite a lot of time in nature when we were young (Ilse practically lived in the woods), nature mainly became a topic of concern for us in our adult lives: climate change, global warming, factory farming, acid rain, air and water pollution, the huge amounts of (unnecessary) waste and its disposal, ozone layer depletion, and so much more. But recently, we also realized that the occasional hiking or canoeing trip isn't enough for us: we enjoy being in nature a lot and try to spend more time outdoors. (We always loved the ocean and water bodies in general, though!)

Blue stands for harmony. (The original eight-color flag had two shades of blue, turquoise and indigo, that were merged to royal blue in 1979. Turquoise represented magic and art, indigo serenity.) We believe that harmony is central to a successful relationship—getting home after a busy day to a harmonious environment is so important to us. We hope that our community will soon be as harmonious as our relationship so that everyone feels comfortable here.

Violet, the bottom color in our rainbow flag, symbolizes spirit. And we believe that we have a lot of spirit in our wonderful queer community! We do not always use it as much as we should, but we love that this spirit easily brings us together with queer people around the globe. We love getting in touch with all of you and sharing our thoughts!
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Location: Cologne, Germany

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