rainbow flag

Noun

rainbow flag (plural rainbow flags)

1. A rainbow-striped flag, typically consisting of six horizontal bars (from top to bottom: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet), used as a symbol of LGBT pride and LGBT social movements.
   • The rainbow flag flies especially proudly in 'Boystown,' along Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood (WeHo). Dozens of high-energy bars, cafés, restaurants, gyms and clubs flank this strip […]2009, California (page 546)

   Synonyms:

   pride flag

2. A rainbow-striped flag used as an international symbol of peace.
3. The flag of South Africa.
   • The extraordinary Josia Thugwane kept the best for last and made the rainbow flag fly over the closing ceremony of the Games. […] Today we honour all our athletes who ensured that the rainbow flag never touched the ground in Atlanta.1996, Nelson Mandela, “Address […] at the Parade of Champions from Atlanta Olympics”, in Speeches by Nelson Mandela
   • In 1994 South Africa held its first fully democratic elections which were overwhelmingly won by the ANC and Mandela became the first black president. At midnight on April 26th the new rainbow flag was raised and the new national anthem, Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika (God Bless Africa), was sung across the...2008, Lizzie Williams, South Africa (Spiral Guides), Heathrow, FL: American Automobile Association, →ISBN, page 10
4. (archaic, historical) The flag of the First Republic of China, used between 1912 and 1928, consisting of red, yellow, blue, white, and black stripes.
   • Just as the rainbow in the blue skies, after a rainstorm, testifies to the existence of imperishable sunshine in the higher firmament, so this rainbow flag of China, born in the throes of the Chinese Revolution, is a standing proof of our abiding faith in democratic government […]1919, Arthur Richmond Marsh, The Economic World, page 548
   • […] but each Chinese patriot following me will bear, as I bear before you my beloved Chinese rainbow flag, which has come to its life because of the Stars and Stripes. (Displaying the two flags.)1924, Freemasons. Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, Proceedings of the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, page 601
5. A wiphala.
   • This new national identity is manifested by the rainbow flag known as the Wiphala in the Aymara language and is anchored in several zones, such as El Alto, and in the indigenous communities.2005, Eric Toussaint, Your Money Or Your Life: The Tyranny of Global Finance, Pluto Press (UK)
   • The rainbow flag, the wiphala, became the visual representation of the previously clandestine Indian nation and was carried in all public manifestations as a symbol of rebellion. The claim to nationhood became complete with the[…]2014 October 2, Marc Becker, Cases of Exclusion and Mobilization of Race and Ethnicities in Latin America, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, →ISBN, page 64