Lesbian Flag

The Lesbian Flag is a symbol of the lesbian community. Having several changes in its design since its inception in 1999 by graphic designer Sean Campbell, it is currently depicted as having 5 colored horizontal stripes.

Each color in the Lesbian Flag has a significant meaning (which we will touch upon later in this article). While there is no "official" Lesbian Flag, below, you will see one of the most commonly used Lesbian Flag designs, as well as many other Lesbian Pride Flag designs throughout the years.

Orange-Pink Lesbian Flag

Other Lesbian Pride Flag Designs

History of Lesbian Flag

As previously mentioned, the Lesbian Pride Flag was first introduced in 1999 by Sean Campbell and had what is called "The Labrys Design." The labrys is the double-axe Zeus uses to invoke storms. This double-axe can be clearly seen inside the black triangle in the original Lesbian Flag.

The Lipstick Lesbian Pride Flag design, introduced in 2010, represents "homosexual women who have a more feminine gender expression," thus, the large lipstick imprint in the top left corner of the design.

The Orange-Pink Lesbian Pride Flag, which is inspired by the Seven-Band Pink Flag (i.e. the Lipstick Lesbian Pride Flag without the lipstick kiss design), was introduced in 2018 by blogger Emily Gwen on Tumblr.

The Gay Pride Flag with the double-Venus symbol is a very creative spin on the original Rainbow Flag, but with added lesbian representation. While not as commonly used as the other Lesbian Flags in this article, it is still used from time to time.

As you can see, there have been several very distinct Lesbian Flag designs spanning all the way back to 1999. While the original Labrys Lesbian Pride Flag has a much different aesthetic to that of its successors, the timeless design of the original is still often used as a symbol of the lesbian community to this day.

Additional iterations of the Lesbian Flag shows designs which more closely resembles the iconic Rainbow Flag (aka Gay Pride Flag), with its use of horizontal stripes containing unique colors which symbolize certain aspects of the respective communities.

Statistics of Lesbian Demographics 

Due to the limitations of surveys, as well as logistical issues, figuring out exactly how many lesbians there are in any given country is impossible. Nevertheless, we do have some surveys which may give us a glimpse into the real numbers.

A survey which included 15,349 participants from 2012 - 2020 asked the question, "Do you, personally, identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender?" According to the survey's results on Statista.com, there was a rise from 3.5% to 5.6% from 2012 - 2020 with participants increasingly identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

In a different survey released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it was shown that 96.6% of adults identified as straight, 1.6% identified as gay or lesbian, and 0.7% identified as bisexual. The remaining 1.1% of adults identified as ‘‘something else,’’ stated ‘‘I don’t know the answer,’’ or refused to provide an answer.

The following color descriptions of the Orange-Pink Lesbian Flag are based upon the original 7-band Orange-Pink Lesbian Flag color descriptions.

The Color Dark Orange (#D62900) in the Lesbian Flag

The dark orange color in the Lesbian Flag is meant to represent gender non-conformity (aka gender variance). Essentially, what this is is a behavior or gender expression by an individual that does not match masculine or feminine gender norms.

The Color Light Orange (#FF9B55) in the Lesbian Flag

The light orange color in the Lesbian Pride Flag is meant to represent community. Unsurprisingly, having an inclusive community is one of the most important parts of the lesbian community.

The Color White in the Lesbian Flag

The white color in the Lesbian Pride Flag represents unique relationships to womanhood. While this is open to interpretation, it is still a very important part of the Lesbian Flag, nonetheless.

The Color Pink (#D461A6) in the Lesbian Flag

The pink color in the Lesbian Flag represents serenity and peace. This is indeed a very prominent goal in this community, which is to increase peace and acceptance of the lesbian community throughout society.

The Color Dark Pink (#A50062) in the Lesbian Flag

The dark pink color in the Lesbian Flag is meant to represent femininity. This color is usually found at the bottom of the Lesbian Pride Flag and can be thought of as the foundation of the flag.

Conclusion of Lesbian Pride Flag

Among the many different Pride Flags that exist, the Lesbian Flag is undoubtedly one of the most influential. Even with its many different designs, each Lesbian Flag iteration is impactful and gets the lesbian community's messages across.

Also, as previously mentioned, there is no official Lesbian Pride Flag due to their being various iterations of the same flag, in addition to there being no central authority to declare one flag as being the one true flag.

Nevertheless, this has not seemed to cause much controversy as there are indeed some benefits of having multiple versions of the same flag, such as getting people curious and asking questions about it, among other benefits.

The lesbian community has come a very long way throughout the decades and centuries. After hundreds of years of little to no representation, the landscape is much different than it was when the first Labrys Lesbian Pride Flag was created in the late 90's.

In fact, in real life, LGBTQ has gradually been accepted in a modern society where the awareness of human rights and freedom dominates. In order to express support for LGBTQ and raise awareness of LGBTQ, people wear rainbow flags lapel pins to express support and Create any pattern inspired by the LGBT flag you want and express yourself as the most stylish and proud decoration. Besides that, you can personalize your clothing, accessories, or anything else you choose with them. Custom pins from GS-JJ are perfect for wearing at pride parades and other events.

There is no doubt that the overall zeitgeist is becoming more progressive and accepting of all people, regardless of what your gender is or what your sexual preferences are.

LGBTQ+ activists have been using the Lesbian Flag for many years now, helping them to not only spread awareness of their goals, but also to help spark interest in what the lesbian community is all about.

As a Pride Counselling affiliate, we may receive compensation from Pride Counselling if you purchase products or services through the links provided.