Venice Pride continues to come up with unique ways to display the rainbow pride flag. Last year, the organization gave us the very popular Rainbow Flag Lifeguard Tower on Venice beach, which become a permanent art installation, and this year, the world’s largest free-flying rainbow flag will be unveiled in Los Angeles for Venice Pride weekend.
Venice Pride announced that it has commissioned what will become the world’s largest free-flying rainbow flag scheduled to be unfurled June 1st to commemorate the first anniversary of the passing of rainbow flag creator Gilbert Baker.
The flag is set for a 10-City “United We Pride” Tour. L.A.’s Venice Beach neighborhood will host the flag for three days before gifting it to San Francisco to mark the rainbow flag’s 40th anniversary. Throughout 2018 and early 2019 the flag will be passed to different host cities who will display it prominently during their own pride celebrations. The flag’s journey will culminate in New York City in June 2019, as the city commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising and plays host to 2019’s World Pride celebration.
“As individual Pride festivals we exist separately, this initiative will give us the opportunity to link with global Pride activities over the next couple of years,” Grant Turck, Executive Director, Venice Pride, said in a press release. “Baker’s rainbow flag has stood as the symbol for inclusivity within the LGBT community worldwide, and I’m thrilled that the ‘United We Pride’ flag will begin in Venice Beach as part of Venice Pride 2018.”
The rainbow pride flag was created in 1978 by artist, designer, Vietnam War veteran and then-drag performer, Gilbert Baker. He was commissioned to create a flag by politician Harvey Milk who died later that same year. It was first showcased at San Francisco’s Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978. Baker’s flag has become widely associated with LGBT rights causes, a symbol of gay pride that has become ubiquitous in the decades since its debut.
The largest rainbow pride flag flown to date is a 1,033 square foot banner that soared over Nelson Mandela Bay in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
The UNITED WE PRIDE – Rainbow Flag Project is presented by Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF).
The flag is scheduled to tour the following cities:
Los Angeles – June 1-3, 2018
San Francisco – June 23-25, 2018
Paris – June 30, 2018
London – July 7, 2018
Berlin – July 28, 2018
Vancouver – August 5, 2018
Sydney – March 2, 2019
Miami – April 1-7, 2019
Tokyo – April 26-May 5, 2019
New York City – June 14-23, 2019
Venice Pride is a nonprofit organization founded to save lives through acceptance and diversity. The mission of the organization is to celebrate the unity of West L.A.’s LGBT community, its friends and supporters through annual events and ongoing outreach that inspires, commemorates and supports diversity with the unique and eclectic spirit that embodies Venice Beach, California. To learn more, visit: venicepride.org
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is a global nonprofit organization providing cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to more than 892,804 people in 39 countries. Currently the largest provider of HIV/AIDS medical care in the U.S., AHF is headquartered in L.A. To learn more, visit: aidshealth.org
