Bigots are raging about a Pride flag that doesn’t even exist – well, not really
The flag was first uploaded to Wikimedia Commons in 2022. (Wikimedia)
The famously right-wing X account Libs of TikTok certainly enjoys spreading dubious information about the LGBTQ+ community. Recently, it took aim at a “new” Pride flag that has been created to be more inclusive.
Last month, Libs of TikTok wrote: “I go offline for 2 days and there’s apparently a new more inclusive pride flag.”
Another right-wing X account, End Wokeness, followed the Libs of TikTok account with their own post about the flag. They said: “Introducing the new, improved LGBTQ+ pride flag. No this is not satire.”
What they failed to mention was while this isn’t satire, it’s also not true.
Since that initial tweet, other right-wing X accounts have sporadically shared the image, and searches for “new Pride flag” and “umbrella Pride flag” have repeatedly trended online, so we felt it might be a good time to set the record straight about what it is and where the image came from.
The flag was designed by someone with the user name Translphis, who uploaded the design to Wikimedia Commons in December, 2022.
So not only is it not being used widely as a flag, it’s also not new. It’s basically just a Wikimedia graphic that someone made, uploaded and then (probably) forgot about.
Wikimedia Commons describes the image as “fictitious, proposed, or locally used unofficially”.
It added: “It has not been adopted in an official capacity, and although it may be named as if it was an official flag of a geographical or other entity and have some visual elements that are similar to official logos or flags of that entity, it does not have any official recognition.”
The flag included the original rainbow colours, white, pink, and blue chevrons to represent the trans community and black and brown chevron to represent queer people of colour.
Interweaved with the chevrons is a purple circle with one thinner yellow circle on its outside and a smaller yellow circle inside as well, to represent the intersex community.
There is also an umbrella to represent sex workers, and other colours included represent those of the LGBTQ+ community who were lost throughout history, including people with disabilities, and those outside of the gender binary.
This is not the first time Libs of TikTok has been accused of spreading fake news. In March, the Republican governor of Florida Ron DeSantis said the account was “lying” about laws in Florida to “generate clicks and engagement.”
He added that “truth should not be a casualty” in this endeavour.
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