How it works
This random pride flag generator draws from 42 flags, from Gilbert Baker's eight-stripe rainbow of 1978 to designs from the last few years. Each card gives the year and the designer where the record is clear, then the colors and what they stand for. Thirty-three flags come with a simple drawing. Use it for art palettes, quiz rounds, club displays and flag spotting at a parade.
Read the full guide
What is on the list
The All pride flags menu under the button sorts the 42 flags three ways: 10 rainbow flags, 19 for orientation and relationships, and 13 for gender and intersex. Two more choices sort them by design, with 32 made of plain stripes and 10 that carry a symbol or chevron. Every fact comes from Wikipedia's Pride flag article and the articles it links to, read on 2026-09-18. A year or a designer is printed only where the article states it without a dispute tag. Many flags began as anonymous posts online, so some cards give colors and meaning alone.
Why nine flags are described but not drawn
The drawings are our own rectangles, colored from the Wikimedia Commons file for each flag, and we made one only where that file is marked public domain, CC0 or free to use. The Progress Pride flag by Daniel Quasar is under a Creative Commons licence that excludes commercial use, so it and the intersex-inclusive version appear in words. So do flags whose emblem we chose not to redraw, such as the Labrys lesbian flag. Some designers settled the question themselves: Michael Page said in 1998 that his Bisexual flag was free for public and commercial use.
Ways to use a random flag
Press Pick 5 new pride flags for a fresh five; to keep a flag, take the others away with × and press again. Quiz setters read out the stripes and ask for the name, or give the name and ask for the year. For a club display, draw five and make a poster panel for each with its date and meanings. Crafters can choose Plain stripes in the All pride flags menu and get a pattern for beads, bunting or a friendship bracelet. Writers use a flag as a small, true detail on a fictional character's wall.
- For an art class palette challenge, press the button and take the first flag. Then paint something unrelated, a teapot or a street, using only that flag's colors.
- For a quiz round, press Add another until the list holds 10 and read only the line under each name. Players name the flag, and the year is the tiebreak.
- Choose Symbol or chevron in the All pride flags menu for a harder drawing exercise. The Intersex flag needs one clean circle, and the Demisexual flag needs a triangle at the hoist.
Questions and answers
Which pride flag came first?
The rainbow flag. Gilbert Baker made it in 1978 with eight stripes: pink meant sexuality, red life, orange healing, yellow sun, green nature, turquoise art, indigo harmony and violet spirit. Hot pink was dropped for lack of fabric. In 1979 turquoise went too and indigo became royal blue, which left the six stripes most people know.
Why does the transgender flag read the same upside down?
Monica Helms designed it that way in 1999. The stripes run light blue, pink, white, pink, light blue, so the flag is correct whichever way it is flown. Its first showing was in 2000, at a Phoenix pride parade, and Helms gave the original to the Smithsonian in 2014.
Why do some flags show no year or designer?
Because the record is unclear, and a guess would be worse than a gap. Wikipedia tags the credit for the orange-pink lesbian flag as dubious, and the pansexual flag first appeared on an anonymous account. For the gay men's flags, two articles give different designers and dates, so the card prints neither. The colors and their meanings are still given.
Which flags are easiest to draw or craft?
Start with three equal stripes: the Pansexual flag, the Polysexual flag, the Genderqueer flag and the Neutrois flag. The Bisexual flag is nearly as simple, but its stripes are not equal, since the pink and blue are each twice as deep as the purple. Mirrored flags such as the Agender flag are forgiving, because the bottom half repeats the top.
Which flags are left out?
Flags of adult subcultures are left out because children use this site. Most city and country versions are left out to keep the list general, though the Gay flag of South Africa is in. Flags that Wikipedia shows with no sourced description are left out because we could not check them. The list is reviewed once a year.