​Last week, a new version of the rainbow gay pride flag flew over Philadelphia to kick off gay pride month. Above the traditional top red stripe were new brown and black ones. The additions, meant to represent LGBT people of color, brought feelings of excitement for many activists and advocates. But for some, the new stripes felt like an unnecessary alteration to an essential LGBT symbol. Here's what you need to know.

The Flag Originally Had Eight Colors

The original pride flag, designed by Gilbert Baker, had eight colors — all meant to represent something different.

The different colors within the flag were meant to represent togetherness, since LGBT people come in all races, ages and genders, and rainbows are both natural and beautiful. The original flag featured eight colors, each having a different meaning. At the top was hot pink, which represented sex, red for life, orange for healing, yellow signifying sunlight, green for nature, turquoise to represent art, indigo for harmony, and finally violet at the bottom for spirit.

[History]

It Was Eventually Cut Down To Six

The flag was eventually cut down to six colors out of practical considerations.

Over time, the flag was cut down to six colors. First, pink was cut because the dye for it was apparently difficult to obtain at the time for mass production. Then the committee organizing the 1979 Gay Freedom Day Parade cut turquoise to give the flag an even number of colors, so it could be flown as two halves in San Francisco.

[Vox]

For This Year's Pride Month, Philadelphia Commissioned A Redesign

In collaboration with Philadelphia design firm Tierney, the Philadelphia Office of LGBT Affairs came up with the idea of adding a black and a brown stripe to the flag to represent people of color, who have been "marginalized, ignored, and even intentionally excluded" from the the LGBT community, according to the More Color More Pride campaign website.

The City Raised The New Flag At City Hall Last Thursday

In a new annual pride ceremony, the city raised the new flag:

SNEAK PEEK. Getting ready to raise the new Philly Gay Pride flag. Watching the life stream on our Facebook page at… https://t.co/Y1SDPvkFje pic.twitter.com/WNucG3bN3Z — PhillyGayCalendar (@PhillyGayCalen) June 8, 2017





Philadelphia's LGBT Community Has Had To Confront Blatant Racial Discrimination In The Past Few Years

According to CNN, the city's LGBT community has struggled with several incidents of racial discrimination in the past few years.

Philadelphia's downtown gay neighborhood, called the Gayborhood, has faced multiple instances of racial discrimination within the past year, including discriminatory dress-code policies at local bars and a leaked video of a nightclub owner using a racial slur. The campaign and new flag are one way the city and the Office of LGBT Affairs are addressing those issues.

[CNN]

Some People In The Community Have Been Pushing Back Against The Addition

On Twitter, some users expressed frustration with the addition of the black and brown stripes, saying that the flag already includes the message of diversity and that the addition needlessly politicizes the flag.

I can't say I'm happy with adding the two new colors to the "pride" flag. Using the guise of pride to make it a race issue is not okay. — Sam Koester (@SamKoester) June 13, 2017

We do not need a new Pride Flag. The colors are inclusive to all races and adding to more colors (black and brown) is very unneeded — TJay Fitch 🌈 (@GuardStud08) June 13, 2017

Other users have pushed back criticism, calling it racist.

First of all, y'all are reacting to this Pride flag like it's gonna legally obligate you to respond to black guys on Grindr. — Phillip Van De Kamp (@MajorPhilebrity) June 14, 2017

Ask yourself why it is that the idea of including and showing solidarity with a group of people in your community is such a problem for you. — Phillip Van De Kamp (@MajorPhilebrity) June 14, 2017