In 1994, to mark the 25 th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, Baker even made a mile-long version of the flag! This is the 6-striped flag that remained in popular use for many years. 1979 then saw the removal of turquoise to keep the number of stripes even at 6 and indigo was changed to a more standard blue. However, production issues meant the hot pink colour could not be easily mass-produced and was subsequently removed from the flag. In his original design, Baker adopted eight striped colours, each self-containing a meaning (hot pink for sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sunlight, green for nature, turquoise for magic/art, indigo for harmony and violet for spirit). Have you ever wondered why the rainbow flag has become synonymous with Pride celebrations across the world? Urged by Harvey Milk to create a symbol of pride for the gay community in 1978, it was Gilbert Baker who designed the first rainbow flag. Published Friday, 18 th June, 2021 in University news Learn how the pride flag has been created and changed over the years.