.svg){kind=logo}
What’s Pride to you?
Rainbows? Glitter? Laughter?
Friendship? Fireworks? Fabulousness?
Identity? Community? Love?
I think we can all agree: Pride is wonderful. Full of colour, life, and happiness, it’s one of the most joyous events in the calendar.
But it hasn’t always been that way.
We take a look at the history of Pride and the merch that helped shape this monumental movement.
Pride is all about celebrating love, equality, and showing support for the fantastic LGBTQIA+ community, and we’re here to help you have a fabulous time!
From our mesmerising selection of rainbow goodies to snacks, bunting and more, we’ve got everything you need to celebrate Pride in style with your colleagues and clients alike.
Explore our range of promotional products perfect for Pride now!
What’s Pride?
Pride is a celebration of identity, community and progression for the LGBTQIA+ community, with colourful parties and marches taking place during June.
Pride is happiness. Pride is community. Pride is finding the joy in being yourself, whatever and whoever that might be. Pride is about coming together in love and friendship.
On a more serious note, it’s also an opportunity to reflect on the progress of how LGBTQIA+ rights have changed for the better, but also to shine a light on the work still ahead.
The story behind Pride
Why is Pride celebrated in June?
Have you ever wondered why Pride is celebrated in June?
It’s not because of the fabulous sunshine, and it’s not because it’s the best beach weather. And it’s not even because the sun sets at 10 pm in the UK, meaning lots more time for partying.
Pride is celebrated in June to remember the Stonewall Uprising that occurred on the 28th June 1969, in New York City.
What’s the Stonewall Uprising?
Picture this: you’re at a bar with your friends. It’s midnight. It’s summer. Your favourite song just came on, the drinks are flowing, and life is good.
That is, until the police storm in. Again. You sigh and roll your eyes. Why do they keep doing this? Why do they keep raiding your favourite hangouts? Why do they keep targeting your friends?
You watch as they arrest your buddy behind the bar for apparently selling alcohol without a license. You watch as they arrest Sandra because she’s wearing jeans and a men’s shirt. You watch as they rough up Colin just because of who he loves. You watch as he falls to the floor. You watch as the police don’t stop. You watch, you watch, you -
You hit back. You fight back. This isn’t right. You know what the police are doing is wrong. You know things need to change. So you kick out. You throw things. You scream.
The Stonewall Uprising was a pivotal moment in the history of the LGBTQIA+ community. It’s when over 400 people rioted against law enforcement’s homophobic abuse of power at The Stonewall Inn on Christopher Street in New York City.
It sadly wasn’t the first time law enforcement had attacked the LGBTQIA+ community like this, either, as they‘d been targeting known LGBTQ+ social hangouts and pushing the law to its limits for their horrific homophobic agenda for a while.
However, Stonewall was different because it marked the moment that the LGBTQIA+ community started to fight back.
Image source: Encyclopædia Britannica
After the Stonewall Uprising
Stonewall may have only lasted six days, but its legacy has lasted a lifetime. It was the spark that ignited the fire in the bellies of the LGBTQIA+ community to defend themselves against hatred, to stand up against oppression, and to take more direct action to change laws.
A year after the Stonewall Uprising, on 28th June 1970, the first ‘Pride’ march was held in New York City. It wasn’t known as ‘Pride’ then; instead, it was called the Christopher Street Liberation Day marches, in honour of the street on which the Stonewall Inn is situated.
The events were attended by approximately 5,000 members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and were a moment of “pride, dignity and self-worth” for the attendees.
“Say it clear, say it loud. Gay is good, gay is proud.”
Christopher Street Liberation Day chant
This momentum didn’t falter. In the UK, a protest, which is commonly called the ‘Pride Before Pride’, was held on the 1st August 1971 by the GLF youth group ( the London Gay Liberation Front). An estimated 2,000 people turned up to demonstrate against the age of consent for gay men being 21.
A year later, on 1st July 1972, the first ‘Pride’ march was held in London, which was the nearest Saturday to the anniversary date of the Stonewall Uprising that year.
Pride became known as ‘Pride’ thanks to Craig Schoonmaker’s suggestion:
Craig Schoonmaker
Pride may not have become official until 1999, but that didn’t stop the community from gathering together nearly every June during the 70s, 80s and 90s to battle against homophobia and fight for their rights, especially during the AIDS crisis of the 80s.
Now, Pride is an annual event throughout the world that celebrates all facets of identity, love, and friendship.
Pride merch & symbols throughout history
Wearing your pride on your sleeve (or your lapel) was one of the easiest, cheapest, and subtlest (if you needed it to be subtle) ways to always have a little bit of the LGBTQIA+ community with you wherever you were, whatever month of the year.
And throughout Pride’s history, there have been several symbols, motifs and merchandise accessories that have made their mark on the rainbow road. Some were/are louder than others, but all have one thing in common: celebrating all forms of love and identity.
Professor Brian Heaphy, University of Manchester
Read more: 8 ways to celebrate Pride in the workplace
The rainbow flag
I bet, if you think of Pride, it goes hand-in-hand with rainbows, right? But did you know it’s not just any old rainbow that makes up the Pride flag?
Designed in 1978 by the artist Gilbert Baker (who was himself an openly gay man and drag queen) by request from Harvey Milk (one of the first openly gay elected officials in the US), the flag’s goal was simple: to unite the LGBTQIA+ community in living their truth.
Gilbert Baker
In 1994, the rainbow flag was fully established as the symbol of LGBTQIA+ Pride.
Originally, there were 8 colours in the flag, each with a different meaning:
- Hot pink for sexuality
- Red for life
- Orange for healing
- Yellow for sunlight
- Green for nature
- Turquoise for art
- Indigo for harmony
- Violet for spirit
Today, the rainbow flag represents the wonderful diversity of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Badges and pins
Easy to wear and cost-effective to make, badges and pins became an absolute staple of Pride merch.
Often depicting known Pride symbols or slogans, they are shared around and still worn proudly by the LGBTQIA+ community today. Moments of solidarity are usually marked with a badge.
The British Museum has a collection of around 400 LGBTQIA+ badges, which are an invaluable example of social history.
Notable mentions go to the Lambda badges, which were the symbol of the Gay Activists Alliance in 1970.
And also the ‘Diversity is our Strength, Liberation is our Fight’ badge from the New York City Pride march of 1983, which depicts an inverted pink triangle.
Image source: Top: Paul's Pins. Bottom: Rainbow & Co.
Check out Paul’s Pins - an LGBTQ+ history project for more examples of these historically significant badges and pins.
Read more: Top 10 promotional products for celebrating Pride
The pink triangle
The Pink Triangle is one of the oldest symbols linked to the LGBTQIA+ community. It was used by the Nazis to denote any homosexual men, bisexual men, and transgender women. Some lesbians were imprisoned with a black triangle as a symbol of “asociality”.
Its initial creation was as a symbol of oppression, hatred and cruelty. But, in the 1970s, the LGBTQIA+ community reclaimed the symbol, redefining its narrative, and used it as a way to remember those who suffered under it.
Nowadays, the Pink Triangle is a symbol of the downtrodden, of hope, and of love.
Image source: Facing History & Ourselves
Rings
Rings are, again, a really easy and subtle way to wear your Pride. In 1991, Freedom Rings were created as a way to easily wear the rainbow flag. They could be worn as part of a necklace, bracelet or keychain, and were referred to as “Fruit Loops”.
In 2005, black ace rings were created to be worn on the right hand to symbolise asexuality; it’s deliberately worn where a wedding ring would be.
Denim
Many at the Stonewall Uprising wore denim, cementing it in LGBTQIA+ history as the ‘people’s fabric’.
Denim became synonymous with the LGBTQIA+ community, too, because of its gender-neutrality.
It was used as a tool of expression, empowering the wearer to communicate their true self with a pair of overalls or jean shorts.
Andrew E. Larsen, historical author
Read more: Meaningful Ways to Celebrate Pride
Celebrate Pride with popular branded merch
How will you be celebrating Pride this year?
With badges, bags, t-shirts and more, we’ve got all the branded merch you’ll ever need to share your Pride, all year round.
Explore our range of promotional products perfect for Pride now!
