Gilbert Baker -- the gay Betsy Ross & the Rainbow flag

Gilbert Baker, known as the gay Betsy Ross, is the creator of the Rainbow Flag. He designed the flag in San Francisco in 1978 as a positive alternative to the Pink Triangle -- a symbol first used by the Nazis to identify homosexuals. The original Rainbow Flag had eight stripes: fuchsia; red; orange; yellow; green; turquoise; blue; and, purple -- which represent sex, life, healing, sunlight, nature, magic serenity and spirit. The Rainbow Flag first flew during the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978. Two eight- color Rainbow Flags, each measuring 30 feet by 60 feet, flew from the flagpoles at United Nations Plaza. In 1994 Baker created the history making mile-long Rainbow Flag for Stonewall 25 in New York to mark the 25th anniversary of the gay civil rights movement. The Guinness Book of World Records recognized the mile-long Stonewall 25 Rainbow Flag as the world's largest flag.