The Key West debut of the more than a mile long Rainbow Pride Flag also kicked off the Rainbow Pride Flag anniversary events all over the United States. Sections of this Rainbow Pride Flag did travel to more than 100 cities around the world, including New York City.

The Rainbow Pride Flag was designed as a symbol of community pride in response to anti-gay activities and as an alternative to the pink triangle, a symbol used first to identify homosexuals by the Nazis during WWII

Construction on the world's longest Rainbow Pride Flag began March 14, 2003, sponsored by Key West's Gay and Lesbian Community Center and Rainbow25, an organization Baker cofounded in 2002 to chronicle the history of the Rainbow Pride Flag. The 1.25 mile Rainbow Pride Flag spanned Key West from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean.

Gilbert Baker started to work on the Rainbow Pride Flag project after Harvey Milk convinced him to create a symbol that would call the gay movement to action when actress Anita Bryant publicly labeled all gays as child molesters in 1977.

Baker hand-sewed and dyed the strips of fabric that would later become the Rainbow Pride Flag. In 1978, Celeste Newborough raised $1,000 for the Rainbow Pride Flag project. The flags were made at the Top Floor Gallery of the then Gay Community Center. Barker's friend, Fairie Argyle helped him with the dyeing, and James MacNamara assisted him with the sewing. When the flags were raised on the poles in United Nations Plaza the morning of the Parade, they knew they'd created something magical.

In 1994, Gilbert Baker created the world's largest flag to celebrate Stonewall 25 in New York City. The Rainbow Pride Flag is a symbol of freedom, a constant reminder that we are people of the same tribe, a reminder to all of us of the liberation and the struggle for justice that as human beings, we seek and deserve. The Rainbow Pride Flag helps us to recognize our own lives and identity.

Last year, we celebrated 25 years of the original Rainbow Pride Flag and the 21st anniversary of a six-colored strip of cloth that is widely recognized, loved and cherished through-out the entire world.

photo by Marco Herrera