Lgbtq flag with intersex

The Pride Flag

Flying the Intersex-Inclusive Pride Flag – or other iterations of the Pride Flag – in our federal buildings supports federal endeavors and mandates to construct a diverse and inclusive workforce, in addition to serving diverse Canadians in an inclusive way.

Visible Lgbtq+ fest flags are a straightforward way to contribute to a sense of belonging and demonstrate that your department, agency and/or team celebrates the diversity of all staff. This evident representation leads to inclusion and a sense of belonging, providing equity-deserving groups and employees with a positive feeling of existence recognized, acknowledged and noted.

The Intersex-Inclusive Pride flag can be flown at various times during the calendar year. These dates can include:

International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia – May 17
International Morning of Pink (second week of April, annually)
Pride Month (dates vary across provinces and territories, from June to September annually)
Public Service Pride Week (third week of August, annually)

There is no directive that states that the National Flag of Canada must be the only flag to fly in the lobbies or other open spaces within Governmen

Adding intersex visibility to the Pride flag

When the LGBTQIA+ community fought back against the police raid of Stonewall Inn in June 1969, there was not yet a universal identity festival flag. It would obtain another 9 years until Gilbert Baker designed the community’s first symbol of pride into what we now know as the rainbow flag. Since then, Baker’s design has not only been reimagined to include people of tint and transgender folk, but has encouraged many communities under the LGBTQIA+ umbrella to create their possess flag to further illustrate queer identities. It wouldn’t be until July 2013 that Morgan Carpenter would create the first intersex flag.

Intersex is a broad term that describes people who do not fit the modern interpretation of the gender binary because of sex characteristics. While the word intersex became common in the initial 20^th century, intersex activists have since reclaimed the word and their medical autonomy since the commencement of the intersex movement in the late 1980s (Source: Them).

The intersex flag is a way for the community to unite and unify under a symbol devoid of gender stereotypes. Yellow has drawn-out been seen as an intersex col

In 2023, Cooper Hewitt hung the Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride flag on its south-facing facade. The installation celebrates LGBTQ+ Lgbtq+ fest Month and demonstrates the evolution of inclusivity in the design of Identity festival flags.

The Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride flag, installed at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in the Arthur Ross Terrace & Garden. Installation produced by Molly Engelman and Dillon Goldschlag. Photo by Ann Sunwoo.

Designed in 2021 by Valentino Vecchietti, the Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride flag incorporates a field of yellow and a purple circle—the elements of the intersex flag designed in 2013 by Morgan Carpenter—to symbolize intersex inclusion. The yellow represents an alternative to blue and pink, often linked with the male/female gender binary. The circle symbolizes wholeness and expresses the need for autonomy and integrity.

The Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag. Courtesy of the designer.

The Pride Progres

The »Intersex-Inclusive Progress Pride Flag« — History and Meaning

During the San Francisco Gay and Dyke Freedom Day Parade on 25 June 1978, a rainbow flag was used for the first moment as a visual inclusion of the lesbian and gay emancipation movement. The idea for the rainbow symbolism came from Gilbert Baker. Baker’s friends, Artie Bressan, Jr. (a filmmaker) and Harvey Milk (the first openly gay politician in the USA to be elected to widespread office), requested that he create a positive symbol for the lesbian and gay communities. However, the production and final plan of the first rainbow flag was not the result of Baker’s tries alone — as is often erroneously claimed — but by a collective of artists and volunteers from the Gay Autonomy Day Decorations Committee led by Baker along with Lynn Segerblom, a batik artist, and James McNamara, a tailor.

The first »rainbow flag« did not have six stripes — as is customary today — but eight, to each of which Baker subsequently assigned a meaning: pink stood for sexuality, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for the sun, green for nature, turquoise for magic, blue for balance and purple for the energy.

The intersex flag

In 2013, I created a flag that has now travelled the world and is widespread within the intersex population. I also used some language that I've now changed in response to feedback.
Page last reviewed 12 November 2020

The intersex flag: a golden yellow background with a purple circle emblem

In 2013, I created a flag that has now travelled the world and is widespread within the intersex population. At the time, I was concerned with inappropriate symbols and iconography used to describe intersex people, often accompanying stories about us – images that include no firm grounding or basis in the history of the intersex movement, or the history of how intersex people have been (and are) treated. I still contribute those concerns, so I’m glad that the flag suggestions a constructive and meaningful alternative way to represent intersex people.

The flag is comprised of a golden yellow field, with a purple circle emblem. The colours and circle don’t just escape referencing gender stereotypes, like the colours pink and sky, they seek to completely avoid utilize of symbols that have anything to do with gender at all. Instead the circle is unbroken and unornament