If the key to a strong design is one that transcends time and space, Baker’s rainbow flag is up there with the best of them. It would capture the message championed by his friend, the openly gay politician Harvey Milk: Come out of the closet and be visible.
Inspired by the American flag and the beauty of a rainbow, Baker’s vision was to create a symbol that would be instantly recognisable, and proclaim the power of gay people everywhere. For weeks, the flags’ creator, a war veteran, drag queen and artist called Gilbert Baker, had been labouring away with fellow gay rights activists, sewing and dyeing the swathes of fabric. On June 25 1978, two giant rainbow flags were erected into the sky in San Francisco.
