The Google Doodle for today, viewable here, with this screenshot of the endpoint of an animation in which a gay flag is assembled from strips of material:
(#1)
(Hat tip to Ellen Seebacher.)
Yes, eight stripes. That was the first version. Story from the Vox site today, “Gilbert Baker created the LGBTQ Pride rainbow flag. Here’s what his creation stood for. Today’s Google Doodle commemorates Baker’s 66th birthday — and the flag that made him famous” by German Lopez:
The original Rainbow Flag had eight colors, each with an individual meaning: pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for the sun, green for nature, turquoise for magic, blue for serenity, and purple for the spirit. “This was the hippie, 1978 meanings for the thing,” Baker said.
Over time, the flag was cut down to six colors. First, pink was cut because the dye for it was apparently difficult to obtain at the time for mass production. Then the committee organizing the 1979 Gay Freedom Day Parade cut turquoise to give the flag an even number of colors, so it could be flown as two halves in San Francisco.
And it gets us down to six primary colors.
You can assemble the flag from strips of fabric, or you can assemble it from six pieces of clothing on separate people, as in the underwear ensembles in the May 24th posting “Dressing for June” (images #2-4); or in this grouping of men from the 2016 San Francisco Pride Parade:
(#2)
Well, two-thirds of the flag. Paging Mr. Orange and Mr. Purple!
(The parade is on June 25th this year.)
