'These colors celebrate a new chapter in the history of American civil rights,' an official said. White House set aglow with rainbow pride

On Friday evening, the White House was glowing with pride.

The Obama administration bathed the north side of the executive mansion in rainbow-colored light to celebrate the Supreme Court’s Friday ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which guaranteed a constitutional right to same-sex marriage across America.


“As of 7:08 PM, the sunlight made it difficult [to] make out the colors, but red, orange, yellow, green and violet were faintly visible,” according to a pool report.

According to a White House official, the lighting was done “to demonstrate our unwavering commitment to progress and equality, here in America and around the world. The pride colors reflect the diversity of the LGBT community, and tonight, these colors celebrate a new chapter in the history of American civil rights."

While most expected President Obama and other Democratic politicians to celebrate the ruling — he called it “a victory for America” in a valedictory Rose Garden speech — the decision for a White House light show came as a surprise around dinnertime Friday, though the White House had dropped hints all morning.

Just after 1 p.m., the administration released an email blast from Jim Obergefell, one of the plaintiffs arguing before the Supreme Court, that featured the traditional White House emblem tinged with rainbow colors.

The White House also changed the default picture on its Twitter account to an image of the White House filled in with rainbow colors. Throughout the morning, the account tweeted and retweeted various statements praising the decision, until President Obama began his eulogy of the nine African-America churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, at which point the account transitioned to tweeting out quotes from the speech.