He quickly became well known for his sewing skills and flamboyant creations, such as drag costumes and political banners for street demonstrations. Gilbert Baker arrived in San Francisco in 1972 during the early years of the Gay Liberation movement. Thought to have been lost for over 40 years, the fragment, shown in the banner above, was recently rediscovered and is the only known surviving remnant of the two inaugural rainbow flags.
In April 2021, the GLBT Historical Society received an archival donation of an extraordinary, unique piece of history that we are unveiling during the Pride season: a fragment of one of the two monumental rainbow flags first raised on Jin San Francisco’s United Nations Plaza at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.ĭisplaying the original design’s eight colored stripes, it was created by Gilbert Baker and hand-stitched and dyed with the help of volunteers and friends, including Lynn Segerblom (Faerie Argyle Rainbow), James McNamara, Glenne McElhinney, Joe Duran and Paul Langlotz.
