Gilbert Baker Nine-Stripe Rainbow Flag

Overview

To add a lavender stripe representing diversity to the original Baker design. ^[1]

In March 2017, weeks before his death, Baker hand-sewed 39 nine-stripe rainbow flags in his Hamilton Heights apartment at 546 West 150th Street in Manhattan. The flags added a lavender stripe representing diversity to the original eight-stripe palette. Baker had wanted to add the stripe for some time, recognizing racism and sexism as ongoing issues within the Queer community. He intended the 39 flags to commemorate the 39th anniversary of the first rainbow flag, with plans for them to be displayed in San Francisco that June. He died of hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease on March 31, 2017, at age 65, in that same apartment. ^[2][3]

Identity & Context

Represented Identity

LGBTQ community

Movement

Inclusivity discourse within pride symbolism

Created during a period of wider debate about inclusion and diversity within pride symbolism. ^{[1] [4]}

Creators

The Creator

Gilbert Baker

Designer & Vexillographer

Gilbert Baker (June 2, 1951, Chanute, Kansas – March 31, 2017, New York City) was an American artist, activist, and flag-maker who created the original rainbow pride flag in San Francisco in 1978. He designed the flag after Harvey Milk urged the gay community to create a visible symbol of pride. Baker worked with volunteers to dye and sew the first flags by hand for the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978.

After being honorably discharged from the Army, Baker had remained in San Francisco and taught himself to sew, applying that skill to creating banners for gay and anti-war protest marches. He moved to New York City in 1994 and lived at a garden apartment at 546 West 150th Street in Hamilton Heights from 2001 until his death.

In 1994, he created a mile-long rainbow flag carried by 5,000 people down First Avenue in Manhattan to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. His work as a flag-maker spanned 39 years and included two world records for flag production. He refused to trademark the rainbow flag, calling it his gift to the world.

In March 2017, in his final weeks, Baker hand-sewed 39 nine-stripe flags adding a lavender stripe for diversity to the original eight-stripe design, intending them for display in San Francisco that June. He died on March 31, 2017, of hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. ^[5][2][3]

Origin

Country

United States

Region / state

New York

City

New York City

Specific Place

Baker's apartment at 546 West 150th Street, Hamilton Heights, Manhattan

Place Type

studio / home

Digital Origin

false

Created in New York City, on the ancestral homeland of the Lenape people, known as Lenapehoking. ^[6][7]

Indigenous land context

Lenape (Munsee-speaking) — ancestral homeland (Lenapehoking) (Indigenous name: Lenapehoking). The land now designated as New York City is the homeland of the Lenape people, known as Lenapehoking. Indigenous people have lived in this region for at least 11,500 years. The word "Manhattan" derives from the Munsee Lenape language. The Lenape were violently displaced over 400 years of European settler colonialism. Today the Lenape are a diasporic people with descendants in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Ontario, and New Jersey, among other places. New York City has one of the largest urban Native American and Indigenous populations in the United States. ^[6][7]

Colonial / settler context

Baker's final flags were sewn in his Hamilton Heights apartment on Lenapehoking, the stolen homeland of the Lenape people. The 1626 transaction with Dutch colonists is widely contested by historians, and no recognized treaty of cession exists for Manhattan. ^[6]

Land status

Colonized (contested 1626 transaction, no recognized treaty of cession)

Indigenous engagement

None documented

Continuing presence

Lenape diaspora communities in Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Ontario, and New Jersey; NYC has one of the largest urban Indigenous populations in the United States

Baker hand-sewed 39 nine-stripe flags in his Hamilton Heights apartment in March 2017, the same month he died. When a friend discovered his apartment after his passing on March 31, fabric scraps littered the floor, scissors sat on his sewing machine, and an ironing board was draped with freshly ironed nine-stripe flags. ^[2][3]

Dates & Chronology

Year Created

2017

Exact date

March 2017

First public use

March 2017

Period in Use

2017–present

More limited adoption than the traditional six-stripe form. ^[1]

Baker had moved from San Francisco to New York City in 1994 and lived at the West 150th Street address from 2001 until his death. The nine-stripe flag was his final creative act. The timing coincided with the Philadelphia Pride Flag controversy, which had prompted public discussion about racial inclusion in LGBTQ symbolism, though Baker's stated motivation focused on his long-held desire to add a stripe representing diversity. ^[1][2][3]

Lineage

Direct predecessors

Original Rainbow Flag (1978)

Related flags

Disability-Inclusive Pride Flag, Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag, Philadelphia Pride Flag, Progress+ Flag (Disabled Queer Transmasc Variant), Progress Pride Flag, Seven-Stripe Rainbow Flag (1978), Rainbow Pride Flag, "Ultimate" Inclusive Diversity Pride Flag

Sibling flags

Seven-Stripe Rainbow Flag (1978)

Branches directly from the original eight-stripe record, not from the six-stripe version. ^[1]

Lineage tree

Every record reachable from this one through documented parent and child relationships: 2 records across 2 generations.

Ancestor

Original Rainbow Flag (1978)

This record

Gilbert Baker Nine-Stripe Rainbow Flag

Colors & Symbolism

Diversity added to the original rainbow meaning set. The lavender stripe at top explicitly represents diversity. ^[1]

This flag has no official digital palette. Color values shown are approximate.

For the inherited eight-stripe meanings, the same wording variations noted in the original record apply. ^{[1] [8]}

One source gives a hex sequence ^[1] and another lists lavender plus the original family colors. ^[8] The lavender hex is approximate. No official specification has been identified for the lavender value.

Design

Aspect Ratio

3:5 · standard

Orientation

horizontal

Stripe Count

9

Layout

horizontal stripes

Stripes (Top → Bottom)

Lavender, Hot Pink, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Turquoise, Indigo, Violet

Nine horizontal stripes of equal width, ordered top-to-bottom: lavender, hot pink, red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo, violet. No emblems or additional markings. Original eight-stripe design plus new lavender top stripe.

Usage & Adoption

Current Status

niche / historical variant

Historically important but less universally recognized than the traditional 6-stripe form.

Discourse & Debates

• Often mentioned in relation to debates around inclusion and whether the rainbow flag needed revision

Common misidentifications

• Often overlooked entirely in simplified pride-flag guides

Common confusions

• Confused with Philadelphia and Progress lineage changes, which are separate non-Baker designs

The label 'Lavender Update' distinguishes this from non-Baker inclusive variants.

Footnotes & Citations

Image Sources

Rendering

lavender-update

• Gilbert Baker's nine-stripe lavender update, created in March 2017 in his Hamilton Heights apartment weeks before his death. Baker hand-sewed 39 of these flags, adding a lavender stripe for diversity to the original eight-stripe palette, intending them for display at San Francisco Pride that June. · Reconstruction