[Column] Alfred Verhoeven (Marketing the Rainbow #3): Well, about that rainbow…

In my PhD research Marketing the Rainbow I look at the question "Does the Gay Consumer actually exist?" . To outline the framework, here are some concepts and symbols. Last time "Alphabet soup" , now the icon: the rainbow flag.

Somewhere over the rainbow, Way up high...

That is the text from the musical The Wizard of Oz (1939), which became a gay favorite – if only because of Judy Garland’s leading role as Dorothy (hence the ‘coded’ expression “Friend of Dorothy”). It was Judy’s funeral in 1969 that led to the Stonewall riots in New York, the first organized signs of resistance against the oppression of homosexuals. This riot was the start of the gay liberation movement in the US. Incidentally, in the Netherlands we were half a year ahead of them with protests in the Binnenhof against “248bis” . We have always been one step ahead of the world.

That first rainbow

I think it was Judy Garland who first connected gays to the rainbow. It is now widely seen as a symbol of the LGBT community, succeeding earlier symbols such as the pink triangle. The use of the rainbow as a sign of diversity, inclusivity, hope and desire has a long history. Many groups and organizations have used it, even 6,500 years ago. And Noah, of course.

The emergence

The rainbow as an LGBT symbol became more or less official when vexillographer Gilbert Baker, a friend of Harvey Milk, designed the Rainbow Pride flag in 1978. “A true flag,” he said, “is ripped from the soul of the people.” He began the project after Milk convinced him of the need to create a symbol to rally the LGBT community to action when actress Anita Bryant (yes, of Zangeres Zonder Naam fame) publicly portrayed all homosexuals as pedophiles. The pie she got in the face for it (1972) was also one of the impulses of the emancipation movement.

San Francisco

The flag was first used at the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade. Since then, it has been used worldwide as a symbol of LGBT unity.

Fun fact : Baker's rainbow flag has 6 colors, instead of the usual 7 (even though a real rainbow is made up of a whole spectrum of colors ). However, the original had 8 stripes: hot pink (sexuality), red (life), orange (healing), yellow (sunlight), green (nature), turquoise (magic), indigo (harmony), and violet (spirit). When Baker took this design to The San Francisco Flag Co. to have it produced for the 1979 parade, the hot pink stripe had to be dropped. He had hand-dyed the color, and unfortunately, it was not a commercially available color.

Later that year, when Harvey Milk was murdered, the Pride Parade committee found Baker's flag to be the perfect symbol to unite the entire community in protest of the tragedy. The committee removed the turquoise color in order to evenly space the stripes along the parade route: red, orange, and yellow on one side of the street, green, blue, and purple on the other.

Other sources explain the disappearance of the 7th color as follows: if you hang the flag vertically from e.g. the lampposts of San Francisco's Market Street, the middle stripe disappears behind the pole. This was most easily solved by making them an even number, so that's why the turquoise stripe disappeared. Thus was born the 6-colored flag we know today.

Q: Which color goes on top, purple or red?
A: There is no “right” way, either goes on top. This instruction comes directly from Gilbert Baker.

Although the flag already symbolizes diversity, many variations have since been created within the LGBT community. For example, a black stripe was added as a sign for those who died of AIDS. There are also – unfortunately – many other variations, which degrades the flag as a symbol of unity.

The flag also became an unexpected fundraiser for the Gay Rights Movement. When large flags were first carried (horizontally) in parades, people spontaneously started throwing money on the flag (perhaps a similar Pavlovian reaction to fountains and other water features). At first, some people took offense, because they didn’t consider themselves poor or pitiful. But a movement can’t exist on enthusiasm alone, so many organizations took the opportunity to raise money in this way – and they still do today. This was probably the first connection between the rainbow and money…

I called my dissertation Marketing the Rainbow , not only because the rainbow represents the LGBT population, but also because there is supposedly a legendary pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. And isn't that what marketers are looking for?

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Alfred Verhoeven has been in marketing and sales since 1987 and has been the CEO of BRIGHT Marketing Solutions since 2000. He works as a freelance marketing communications manager. Alfred Verhoeven is in the final phase of his PhD research Marketing The Rainbow ( www.marketingtherainbow.info ), in which he investigates the question "Does The Gay Consumer really exist?". In this, he examines the (rainbow) diversity in MarCom.He previously wrote for Marketing Report " Does The Gay Consumer Really Exist? " and " Alphabet Soup ".