Somewhere Over the Rainbow, There's Pride

From about the early 70s to the early 80s, people loved to decorate their homes with rainbows. Rainbow bedspreads, rainbow wall murals, rainbow art, rainbows in the abstract, rainbows on furniture – seemingly rainbows everywhere. It’s nearly impossible to open a design book from this era and not find at least a few. This may have been a holdover from the free lovin’ 60s or perhaps just a simple design arc, but while these prismatic bows were all the rage a few decades ago, as the 80s chugged along and design trends turned spartan, their use as a decor element started to fade. 

One stronghold is the LGBT pride flag. For centuries the rainbow has been used to symbolise hope and social change, and since 1978 it has been synonymous with the gay rights movement. Originally composed of 8 colours, each colour of the pride flag symbolised a different aspect of LGBT culture – pink for sexuality, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for art, indigo for harmony, and violet for spirit. 

June is widely known as pride month, where communities around the world gather to promote individuality, self dignity, and equal rights. The original pride ‘parade’ in 1969 was actually a riot. In retaliation to a police raid on the New York City gay bar, the Stonewall Inn, gays, lesbians, drag queens, and their supporters took to the streets to demand equal treatment under the law. Today Pride is celebrated as an annual reminder of the struggles the LGBT community has faced, but also as a milepost to measure the strides we have made in the pursuit of social equality. 

As pride celebrations rage on across the globe, it’s important to point out one of the great aspects about pride month – it’s not reserved just for the LGBT community, pride is inclusive, it is for everyone. The only admission price is a love of one’s self, a love of those around you, and an understanding that every colour of civilisation is equal and beautiful. HAPPY PRIDE!