Last modified: 2025-01-11 by ian macdonald
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![[Pride version of national flag in pink]](../images/a/au_gaypk.gif)
image by Sander Manders, 3 Mar 2007
My wife, who assisted with the gay and lesbian Mardi Gras parade told me
that many people in the crowd and parade itself were waving a white
and pink version of the Autralian national flag (pink replacing the
blue and red).
Marc Pasquin, 4 March 2007
Yesterday, the annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival in Sydney was held. Many participants
and onlookers were waving Australian 'gay pride' flags, which were
essentially normal Australian national flags with the blue replaced
with a mid-shade of pink. As you can see, it is aesthetically fairly
pleasing.
Sander Manders, 3 March 2007
Yesterday, I passed a group of motorcycle riders preparing for this year's
parade outside the Sydney Cricket Ground. The route where they were assembling
was festooned with these pink flags, but the bikes were each decorated
with one of these and a rainbow flag together.
Jonathan Dixon, 2 March 2008
The flag should normally have the ratio 1:2, but is frequently manufactured
with the ratio 3:5 [1]. Some manufacturers go one step further, making the
canton even less oblong, about 2:3 [2]. Even on flags with the ratio 1:2, the
hoist area may look shorter, but that happens if the portion next to the hoist
edge is sewn into an ad hoc sleeve, which is an error many people seem
to make when they finish a flag without having previously planned a sleeve [3];
such errors may have been misinterpreted as the flag cantons being less oblong
than normally. especially if viewed from a distance.
[1] Cass Down Under
blog:
https://cassdownunder.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/sydney-gay-and-lesbian-mardi-gras-take-1/
[2] Her {Curio} Majesty blog:
https://hercuriomajesty.com/2015/03/mardi-gras-glamorous-celebration-differences
[3] Alamy photo archive - Photo of an Australian flag with pink field, taken
in Sydney on 2019-02-17:
https://www.alamy.com/sydney-australia-17th-feb-2019-a-pink-coloured-australian-flag-flies-high-at-the-gay-lesbian-mardi-gras-fair-day-in-victoria-park-image236925114.html
Tomislav Todorovic, 4 January 2021
![[Pride version of national flag]](../images/a/au_gayr1.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 4 January 2021
LGBT-oriented version of Australian national flag, with the field repainted
into the rainbow colors, is increasingly being used. On this flag, red is at the
top, the field portion in the canton being repainted into red and orange, the
Cross of St George and its fimbriation completely covering the corresponding
portion of yellow stripe. The flag should normally have the ratio 1:2 [1, 2, 3,
4], but is frequently manufactured with the ratio 3:5, with the canton either
having the same ratio [5, 6, 7] or being additionally modified to the ratio 2:3,
while still occupying 1/2 of the flag width [8, 9, 10, 11]. As seen in all the
presented sources, the flag colors may also vary to some extent, which most
frequently happens with green, blue and violet, and there is also some variation
of the size and position of the stars, resulting in varying relative positions
of the stars points and the lines of partition between the rainbow stripes.
Image of described flag; derived from the SVG image of Australian national
flag from Wikimedia Commons:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Australia.svg
Sources:
[1] Troye Sivan's information account for spain at Twitter - Post on
2016-10-22:
https://mobile.twitter.com/TeamTroyeSP/status/789850290551939072
[2]
Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras at Facebook - Photo uploaded on 2018-02-18
https://www.facebook.com/sydneymardigras/photos/a.1643442212361496/1643445929027791/?type=3
[3] Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras at Facebook - Photo album from the
NYC Pride March, 2019-06-30:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/sydneymardigras/photos/?tab=album&;album_id=2335547683150942
[4] Charles Sturt University website:
https://news.csu.edu.au/in-brief/charles-sturt-congratulates-wagga-wagga-mardi-gras-organiser-for-starring-in-documentary
[5] Barewalls photo archive - Photo of a woman holding Australian rainbow
flag:
https://www.barewalls.com/art-print-poster/female-holding-an-australian-flag_bwc53396244.html
[6] Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras at Facebook - Photo uploaded on
2019-08-09:
https://www.facebook.com/sydneymardigras/photos/a.2424088727630170/2424089834296726/?type=3
[7] Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras at Twitter - Post on 2019-08-18:
https://twitter.com/sydneymardigras/status/1162884552055902208
[8]
myGC.com website:
https://www.mygc.com.au/sydney-sparkles-love-rules-mardi-gras
[9] Flickr
- Photo of a woman holding Australian rainbow flag, taken on 2017-12-20:
https://flickr.com/photos/lovleah/38483635744
[10] Flickr - Photo of a
woman holding Australian rainbow flag, taken on 2017-12-24:
https://flickr.com/photos/lovleah/39308193131
[11] WWD Studios website:
https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/pride-month-2020-virtual-pride-events-1203657059
Tomislav Todorovic, 4 January 2021
![[Pride version of national flag with rainbow canton]](../images/a/au_gayrb.gif)
image by Sander Manders, 3 Mar 2007
Another obvious gay pride flag, which consists of the Australian national flag with the Union Jack in the
canton replaced by the rainbow flag.
Sander Manders, 3 March 2007
This flag seems to be used very rarely. The only example of its use that can
currently be verified is from the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras 2015. The flag
photo is available here (4th photo from the top):
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexlee/pride-at-sydney-mardi-gras?utm_term=.it9mY8n5k#.lnvpoj75z
Tomislav Todorovic, 13 February 2022
![[Australian bear pride flag]](../images/a/au_bear.gif)
by António Martins and M. Schmöger, 24 Aug 2001
This is a "bear pride" variant of the Australian flag with a bear footprint on the Union Jack.
M. Schmöger, 24 Aug 2001
See also:
In September 1989 the first variant of the leather pride flag was seen:
An Australian Leather Pride flag with the black-blue-white stripes as
the field, the red heart in the canton, and the Australian stars in the
fly.
Michael Wilson, 30 Sep 2000
I do not know if the flag had just the Southern Cross or if it included the Federation Star too. The did not include a photo or drawing of the flag. I believe, however, that the flag did have the Federation Star. The following paragraph from the article provides the following details:
The following September, at the next “Mr. Drummer” contest, one of the most interesting events was the arrival of Clive Platman, a New Zealander in San Francisco to represent Australia in the “Mr. Drummer” finals. He brought with him a new version of the flag, its first major variant. Over the now-established stripes, Laurie Lane of “Laurie Lane’s Leather World”, had appliqued the stars that also appear on Australia’s national flag.The article leads me to believe that the flag did bear the Federation Star. First, it clearly mentions that the flag bore the stars of the Australian national flag, which one would assume would include all the stars. Second, because the Federation Star is the major difference between the Australian and New Zealand flags, and because the flag was identified as being Australian, one would also assume the Federation Star was included. Third, despite being from New Zealand, Mr. Platman was representing Australia in the contest and brought with him the Australian variant. Should he have brought a New Zealand flag instead while representing Australia, then it would have been a noteworthy event in the contest. Nothing of this sort is mentioned in the article.
I can confirm that [the Australian
leather pride flag] does contain the Federation Star (I spotted one today at
Bourke Street, Darlinghurst).
Miles Li, 4 October 2002
![[Canberra bear pride flag]](../images/a/au_bcanb.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 28 April 2013
![[Canberra bear pride flag]](../images/a/au_bcan2.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 28 April 2013
Bears Canberra is a social club for "bear" gay men, based in Canberra. Their
logo, which can be seen at the homepages of their website,
http://www.bearscanberra.org.au
(Image:
http://www.bearscanberra.org.au/index_files/image455.gif) and their
discussion group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BearsCanberra/ (Image:
http://xa.yimg.com/kq/groups/18355872/homepage/name/homepage.jpg?type=sn) is
modeled to resemble a coat of arms and includes the image of a flag which is
divided into two fields by a "north to south" diagonal line, the hoist half
displaying the colors of gay rainbow flag and the fly half displaying those of
the International Bear Brotherhood Flag, but only six colors instead of seven
(only one shade of brown) so as to match the number of hoist stripes. The white
stars from the national flag of Australia are placed over all, those over the
"bear" colors fimbriated black. While the use of this design for real flags has
not been verified so far, it does appear on the club caps and shirts which are
offered for sale at the club website:
http://www.bearscanberra.org.au/index_files/Page1096.htm, either as the part
of the whole logo:
Image #1:
http://www.bearscanberra.org.au/index_files/image425.jpg
Image #2:
http://www.bearscanberra.org.au/index_files/image427.jpg
or as the
standalone emblem: Image:
http://www.bearscanberra.org.au/index_files/image423.jpg.
The last
example suggests that it is indeed meant to be the club flag. As the logo is
embroidered on these items, the stars, being too small to be reproduced by this
technique, are omitted from the realized design: Close-up image:
http://www.bearscanberra.org.au/index_files/image430.jpg.
Tomislav
Todorovic, 28 April 2013
![[Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras]](../images/a/au_sglmg.gif)
image by Tomislav Todorovic, 5 January 2021
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the Pride festival in Sydney, first took
place in 1978; originally named just Sydney Gay Mardi Gras, it bears its present
name since 1990 [1]. Its current logo, introduced in 2012, is an infinity symbol
composed of two conjoined heart shapes, symbolizing "Infinite Love", which was
also the motto of the 2012 event [1]. While nothing seems to have been
officially announced about that, it is worth noting that the logo also resembles
a butterfly, the animal which symbolizes "coming out" [2] and was frequently
depicted on the Mardi Gras official posters and other related media since the
beginning of its history [1]. The rainbow flag charged with white logo is used
not only during the festival [3, 4, 5, 6], but also at the other events where
the Mardi Gras is to be represented [7]. Small number of photos currently
available online, the earliest of those dating from 2015 [7], suggests that the
flag is still not widely used, as well as that its introduction took place
several years after the logo had been introduced. While the color shades seem to
vary somewhat, the logo is always depicted as occupying two-thirds of flag
width.
Sources:
[1] Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras website -
Timeline:
https://www.mardigras.org.au/timeline
[2] Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi
Gras at Facebook - Image uploaded on 2020-12-26:
https://www.facebook.com/sydneymardigras/photos/a.111068832265516/3629069447132086/?type=3
[3] Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras at Facebook - Photo uploaded on
2016-02-20:
https://www.facebook.com/sydneymardigras/photos/a.111068832265516/997702793602111/?type=3
[4] Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras at Facebook - Photo uploaded on
2016-09-27:
https://www.facebook.com/sydneymardigras/photos/a.1145693432136379/1145695382136184/?type=3
[5] Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras at Facebook - Photo uploaded on
2017-09-10:
https://www.facebook.com/sydneymardigras/photos/a.1489426464429739/1489431234429262/?type=3
[6] Culture Trip website:
https://theculturetrip.com/pacific/australia/articles/a-beginners-guide-to-sydney-mardi-gras
[7] Star Observer magazine website - Report from St Patrick's Day 2015
celebration in Sydney:
https://www.starobserver.com.au/news/national-news/new-south-wales-news/sydneys-irish-mardi-gras-entry-awarded-top-float-at-entirely-different-parade/133991
Tomislav Todorovic, 5 January 2021
![[78ers]](../images/a/au_78ers.gif)
iamge by Marc Pasquin, 3 March 2023
The 45th Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade took place last weekend.
As per tradition, the "78ers" were the second float, the first float being the
LGBT+ Indigenous Australians one.
The 78ers are people who took part in the
first LGBT+ equal-rights march back in 1978. Hundreds were arrested and their
identities & occupations were published the next day by some local newspapers,
leading to many being forcibly outed and losing their jobs. For this reason,
they are honoured each year, with those who are still able to marching in front
of a double-decker bus carrying other, less mobile 78ers.
The flag flown by
the 78ers has a black field with a downward pointing pink triangle centered on
it. I haven't been able to find a designer or date of adoption though "pink and
black" has been used for a number of years by them.
Source of picture: ABC
(Australia, video is geoblocked in other countries)
Background:
https://www.78ers.org.au/the-78ers
Marc Pasquin, 3 March 2023
