M&M's Loses Two Iconic Colors

As M&M’s celebrates its 85th birthday, it’s rolling out a new version of its candy made without artificial dyes starting in August. 

The catch? Blue and brown candies won’t be part of the first lineup because Mars say those colors have been especially difficult and expensive to recreate using natural ingredients. 

After experimenting with alternatives like pink and purple, the company decided to stick with red, yellow, orange, and green for now, with plans to bring back the full color mix by 2028. 

The move was compelled because of renewed pressure on food companies to phase out artificial dyes, despite Mars previously backing away from a similar pledge years ago. 

The announcement by Mars was first reported by The Wall Street Journal on June 18, and it comes after the candy maker went public in 2025 with their intent to offer non-artificially colored options for M&M’s Chocolate, Skittles Original, Extra Gum Spearmint, and Starburst Original fruit chews by 2026.

Well, color me shocked! I never would have guessed! 😁😁😁

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Japanese Products Undergo Temporary Makeover

Ongoing oil shortages are forcing some popular snacks in Japan to undergo a temporary makeover. 

Familiar potato chip and cracker products are now in black-and-white packaging. 

Major Japanese food maker Calbee are already temporarily selling 14 potato chip varieties in monochrome packaging as shortages of naphtha − a petroleum-based material used in production − continue to disrupt operations.  

A popular shrimp-flavored snack, Kappa Ebisen, made its black-and-white debut at a Tokyo supermarket on June 01. The packaging no longer includes images of the snack itself. It only features the product name and an illustration of a shrimp. The package also indicates the modification is aimed at petroleum conservation. 

Japanese manufacturer famous for their tomato-based products and vegetable juices Kagome have changed the design for their ketchup products by reducing the number of tomatoes on the packaging and even the transparent section was expanded to cut down on ink. The company said on their website that finding a substitute for the white ink, which is the base color for printing the packages, is difficult "due to printing compatibility". 

Nisshin Seifun Welna stopped printing the cooking time on their spaghetti bundle tapes to conserve ink and proactively manage supply chain risks. 

The decision by the flour and pasta maker affects the colored ink specifically used for these text details − cooking instructions remain printed on the main exterior packaging of the spaghetti.

This change is part of an industry-wide move in Japan to simplify packaging and reduce ink usage due to tightening supplies of the raw material for packaging ink.

Denmark Switches to Red Streetlights

A quiet transformation is underway in Gladsaxe, Denmark, where urban lighting is evolving to protect local wildlife without compromising public safety. 

In this municipality near Copenhagen, red LED streetlights have been installed along key roadways, offering a potential model for cities worldwide grappling with the environmental impact of artificial lighting. The initiative targets light pollution and seeks to reduce disruptions to nocturnal species, particularly bats, which are sensitive to urban light. 

This innovative shift is rooted in scientific research and aligns with global sustainability efforts. In doing so, it represents more than just a change in lighting color. It is a rethinking of how cities can evolve their infrastructure to meet pressing environmental goals, preserve local ecosystems, and manage the growing challenges of urban development. 

In most urban areas, artificial light serves primarily to ensure safety and improve visibility for pedestrians and drivers. However, growing evidence suggests that traditional lighting systems disrupt natural ecosystems. Species such as bats, which rely on echolocation for navigation and feeding, are particularly vulnerable to artificial light. Research shows that short-wavelength lights – like those in white, blue, and green spectrums – disrupt their behavior, leading to altered migration patterns and disrupted feeding cycles. 

In contrast, red-spectrum lighting has been found to have minimal impact on bat activity. In Gladsaxe, the decision to replace standard white lights with red LEDs along Frederiksborgvej, a road near a local bat colony, is designed to protect species such as the common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) and the brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus). This shift is based on evidence that red light interferes less with nocturnal species, offering a sustainable compromise between ecological protection and the need for public illumination. 

The implementation of red lights is a targeted effort to reduce the impact of street lighting on local bat populations, ensuring their ability to forage and navigate while maintaining road safety. This innovation follows findings from the Danish Road Directorate, which highlighted how artificial light affects bat behavior in close proximity to their feeding corridors and roosting areas. Gladsaxe’s project has become a key part of Denmark’s broader sustainability strategy, linking urban development with environmental responsibility. 

The introduction of red lighting in Gladsaxe is part of the EU-funded Lighting Metropolis – Green Mobility program, which also involves cities across Denmark and Sweden. The program aims to reduce the environmental footprint of urban lighting while maintaining energy efficiency and road safety. 

The move to red LEDs aligns with sustainable city goals and offers multiple benefits. These energy-efficient lights reduce power consumption compared to older systems like sodium vapor lamps. Additionally, they require less maintenance and integrate smart lighting technologies that adjust brightness based on real-time data, further improving energy efficiency.

Birds Prefer Pooping on Certain Cars

If you have ever felt that pooping birds specifically targeted your car, you are not alone, and you may not be imagining it. A new survey reveals that certain colors and makes of cars are more likely to be hit by bird excrement. 

The Bird Dropping Report 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 was produced by Alan's Factory Outlet, a family-owned Virginia, US company that manufacture carports and garages. 

The survey methodology is unknown, and the company have an obvious interest in proving the need for their products. That being said, they gathered a lot of detailed information about the preferences of defecating birds. 

Owners of red cars often believe that both highway patrols and birds unfairly single them out. The notion that they get pulled over more often than other colors is a myth.

However, they rank second only to brown cars in the survey, with black coming in third. Lighter colors are more likely to escape birds' wrath, likely because of the way birds perceive colors. 

Rams, Jeeps, and Chevrolets topped the list for birds' preferred makes. 

One unexpected result in the survey was that "More than 1 in 20 Americans (6%) had canceled or delayed plans because their car was too dirty…". 

I really hope these are all cases of an absolute bird bombardment, because no one should be canceling plans over a little bird poop. 🥴🥴🥴 

Malaysian squash champion Sivasangari Subramaniam's Deepavali day was sadly ruined by Egyptian Sana Ibrahim on Monday. 

The world No. 6 was upstaged by world No. 19 Sana 13-11, 10-12, 11-9, 12-10 in 64 minutes in the US Open second round in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

It was Sivasangari's first defeat to Sana in six encounters. For the first time in the 2025-26 PSA season, she failed to advance to the quarter-finals.

A Clash Over Colors

Cambodia's newly rebranded national carrier, Air Cambodia (formerly known as "Cambodia Angkor Air"), have inadvertently sparked a social media firestorm, with online users widely criticising their livery for their uncanny likeness to Thai Airways. 

The argument arose during Friday's launch of the airline's inaugural direct flight from Shenzhen, China, to Siem Reap, Cambodia, even as the airline defended their color choices as symbolic of Cambodian culture and royalty. 

The launch was a significant moment for the nation's tourism sector. A spokesperson for Cambodia's State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) confirmed to the Phnom Penh Post that this direct connection is a first for Siem Reap, home to the iconic UNESCO World Heritage site of Angkor Wat, a hugely popular destination for Chinese tourists. Shenzhen, one of China's four largest cities, previously required tourists to transit via Phnom Penh. 

This new route is expected to significantly boost visitor numbers from China's Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau region, injecting new life into the "China-Cambodia Tourism Year 2025". 

However, it's the airline's aesthetics that have truly captured attention. Observers quickly pointed out that the aircraft's visual elements (including cabin crew uniforms, and even the company logo) all feature a distinctive purple hue, strikingly similar to Thai Airways. 

Air Cambodia, 51% owned by the Cambodian government, and the remaining shares held by Chinese state-owned enterprise Henan Airport Investment Group and Vietnam Airlines, explained that their use of dark purple symbolises the combination of blue (representing stability and tranquility) and red (denoting strength and passion). The golden yellow, they add, is the royal colour and a traditional symbol of prosperity in Cambodia. 

Note: Thai Airways, established in 1960, significantly predate Air Cambodia, which were founded in 2009. 

A high-profile Malaysian corruption suspect is allegedly living in China under a Greek name with a forged Australian passport, according to the investigative media outlet Brazen. 

Jho Low, a financier accused of being the mastermind of Malaysia's 1MDB case, is reportedly living in an upscale Shanghai neighbourhood under the alias Constantinos Achilles Veis. The businessman, who has maintained his innocence, previously held citizenship in Cyprus and the Caribbean island country of St Kitts and Nevis – both of which have been revoked. 

The Australian Federal Police and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are yet to confirm whether they are aware of the case.

Scientists Claim To Have Found Brand New Color

After walking the Earth for a few hundred thousand years, humans might think they have seen it all. But not according to one team of scientists who claim to have experienced a color no one has seen before. 

The bold – and contested – assertion follows an experiment in which researchers in the US had laser pulses fired into their eyes. By stimulating individual cells in the retina, the laser pushed their perception beyond its natural limits, they say. 

Their description of the color is not too arresting – the five people who have seen it call it blue-green – but that, they say, does not fully capture the richness of the experience. 

“We predicted from the beginning that it would look like an unprecedented color signal but we didn’t know what the brain would do with it”, said Ren Ng, an electrical engineer at the University of California, Berkeley. “It was jaw-dropping. It’s incredibly saturated”. 

The researchers shared an image of a turquoise square to give a sense of the color, which they named olo, but stressed that the hue could only be experienced through laser manipulation of the retina.

“There is no way to convey that color in an article or on a monitor”, said Austin Roorda, a vision scientist on the team. “The whole point is that this is not the color we see, it’s just not. The color we see is a version of it, but it absolutely pales by comparison with the experience of olo”. 

Humans perceive the colors of the world when light falls on color-sensitive cells called cones in the retina. There are three types of cones that are sensitive to long (L), medium (M) and short (S) wavelengths of light. 

Natural light is a blend of multiple wavelengths that stimulate L, M and S cones to different extents. The variations are perceived as different colors. Red light primarily stimulates L cones, while blue light chiefly activates S cones. But M cones sit in the middle and there is no natural light that excites these alone. 

The Berkeley team set out to overcome the limitation. They began by mapping a small part of a person’s retina to pinpoint the positions of their M cones. A laser is then used to scan the retina. When it comes to an M cone, after adjusting for movement of the eye, it fires a tiny pulse of light to stimulate the cell, before moving on to the next cone.

The result which is found in the article "Novel color via stimulation of individual photoreceptors at population scale", published in Science Advances, April 18, 2025, Vol. 11, No. 16, is a patch of color in the field of vision about twice the size of a full moon. The color is beyond the natural range of the naked eye because the M cones are stimulated almost exclusively, a state natural light cannot achieve. The name olo comes from the binary 010, indicating that of the L, M and S cones, only the M cones are switched on. 

The claim left one expert bemused. “It is not a new color”, maintained John Barbur, a vision scientist at City St George’s, University of London. “It’s a more saturated green that can only be produced in a subject with normal red-green chromatic mechanism when the only input comes from M cones”. The work, he insisted, had “limited value”.

The researchers believe the tool, named Oz vision after the Emerald City in the L Frank Baum books, will help them probe basic science questions about how the brain creates visual perceptions of the world. But it may have other applications. Through bespoke stimulation of cells in the retina, researchers might learn more about color blindness or diseases that affect vision such as retinitis pigmentosa. 

Will the rest of the world get the chance to experience olo for themselves? “This is basic science”, said Ng. “We’re not going to see olo on any smartphone displays or any TVs any time soon. And this is very, very far beyond VR headset technology”.

A Scary New Color Because the Earth Keeps Getting Hotter

US scientists need a scary new color because the world keeps getting hotter! And they've determined it to be magenta, a purplish-red color.

 

On April 22, which is Earth Day, the National Weather Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention teamed up to announce a new heat risk system to better communicate the severity of hot weather. The color-coded system added magenta, a fifth-tier of heat severity, beyond red, to communicate extreme heat “rare and/or long-duration extreme heat with little to no overnight relief”, according to Associated Press. 

The new risk system also projects out extreme weather in a seven-day forecast, allowing the public to prepare for heat accordingly. The color-coded system is as follows: green means there is no heat risk, yellow and orange indicate risk to heat-sensitive individuals who lack cooling and/or hydration, red indicates a high risk for the entire population, and magenta corresponds to a very high risk for the entire population over an extended period of time.

National Weather Service director Ken Graham explained the reason for a simple color-coding system of a complex problem: "This is a way to simplify that. You've got to be able to simplify the stuff so that people actually want to look at it first of all and most importantly understand it".

Mandy Cohen, the CDC’s director said: “Heat can impact our health, but heat-related illness and death are preventable. We are releasing new heat and health tools and guidance to help people take simple steps to stay safe in the heat”.

Color me terrified.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday, a James Forrest double (30, 67) restored Celtic with a three-point lead at the Scottish Premiership summit. 

Not since 2011 has there been such a tight title race. Three points is the gap between leaders Celtic and rivals Rangers with four games remaining, one of which is a potential derby decider next month.

St George's Cross Turns Purple and Blue; Union Jack Gets a Rebrand

There was general unhappiness on Thursday over England’s controversial new shirt which features an altered version of the St George’s cross on the collar where it sported a red, navy blue and purple design.

 

In case you didn't know, the St George's cross featuring a white background with a red cross is the national flag of England (right). 

 

The Football Association and manufacturers Nike have doubled down on the design, insisting they have no plans to recall the jersey. Nike describe the navy, light blue and purple colors as a "playful update" on the nation’s flag and as they say "to unite and inspire"(!).

 

Many fans and commentators disagree and have reacted angrily since the release of the kit – which England will wear at Euro 2024 this summer – branding it "woke" and "dumb".

 

And then, there is the new Team GB look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Designers behind Team GB's new Union Jack look say they wanted to make it more "inclusive" after a British Olympic Association appeal to attract younger fans. 

 

Design and marketing agency Thisaway are facing a backlash for their dizzying rebrand incorporating pink and purple – as well as meaningless graffiti-like squiggles.

 

It must be noted that Team GB athletes will still wear the traditional Union Jack (right) on their official kit. And the redesigned flag is to be only on merchandise ahead of the Olympic Games (July 26–August 11, 2024) in Paris, France.

 

Fans first spotted the rebranded design at the World Aquatic Championships in Qatar last month.

 

Again, abundant critics have voiced out their unhappiness.

 

England's most-capped footballer Peter Shilton, declares: "It feels that nothing is held sacred these days in the UK. Our national flag has been symbolic for many years and should never be changed". 

 

Malcom Farrow, president of the Flag Institute, a UK flag promotion charity, agrees: "I don’t approve of our national symbol of unity being defaced".

 

UK's The Sun says "the Union Jack does not need a trendy multi-colored 'rebrand' – leave our flag alone". After all, the red, white and blue emblem is instantly recognisable worldwide.

 

And I'm certain some would even describe it all as woke madness!

Uranus and Neptune in Their True Colors

Our ideas of the colors of the planets Neptune and Uranus have been wrong, research led by UK astronomers reveals. Images from a space mission in the 1980s had shown Neptune to be a rich blue and Uranus green. 

 

But a study has discovered that the two ice giant planets are both similar shades of greenish blue. It has emerged that the earlier images of Neptune had been enhanced to show details of the planet's atmosphere, which altered its true color.

 

"They did something that I think everyone on Instagram will have done at some time in their life, they tweaked the colors", Prof Catherine Heymans (right), Astronomer Royal for Scotland and a University of Edinburgh astrophysics professor, told BBC Radio 4's Today. "They accentuated the blue just to reveal the features that you can see in Neptune's atmosphere, and that's why the image looks very blue, but in reality, Neptune is actually pretty similar to Uranus". 

 

Astronomers have long known that most modern images of the two planets do not accurately reflect their true colors, according to Prof Patrick Irwin (left) from the University of Oxford, who led the research. "Even though the artificially saturated color was known at the time amongst planetary scientists – and the images were released with captions explaining it – that distinction had become lost over time".

 

Dr Robert Massey, deputy director of the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS), explained that enhancing images was normal procedure in astronomical research. "You would be foolish to look at an astronomy image and not think it was enhanced. They have to be, because that is how they are processed in order to see things. It's not that there was any conspiracy to keep it from the public!" 

 

Prof Irwin and his team processed the original data to produce what is claimed to be ''the most accurate representation yet'' of the color of both Neptune and Uranus. The initial misconception arose because images captured of both planets by NASA's Voyager 2 spacecraft mission recorded its images in three separate colors. 

 

The images were recombined to create the composite color images, which were not always accurately balanced. The contrast was also strongly enhanced to bring out details in the clouds, bands and winds of the planets. In the case of Neptune, both processes made it bluer than it really was. 

 

In the recent study, the researchers used data from the Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer on the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope. In both instruments, each pixel is a continuous spectrum of colors which enables the researchers to produce the true colors of both planets. 

 

The analysis revealed that Uranus and Neptune are a similar shade of greenish blue, although researchers found a slight difference. Neptune has a slight hint of additional blue, which the model reveals to be because of a thinner haze layer on that planet. 

 

The study also showed that Uranus appears a little greener during its summer and winter, when one of its poles is pointed towards the Sun. But during spring and autumn, when the Sun is over the equator, it has a bluer tinge. 

 

The research has been published in the Monthly Notices of the RAS.

 

On January 01, 2024, China Eastern Airlines welcomed their fourth C919 aircraft. 

 

And as at a day earlier, the said airlines' C919 fleet had already operated 655 commercial flights, carrying a total of nearly 82,000 passengers.

Zara Pulls Ad Over Gaza Reference Claims

Fashion brand Zara on Tuesday said it was removing an advertising campaign from its website and social media channels after angry criticism online claimed that it resembled images of destruction in Gaza. 

 

The move follows days of boycott calls across Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok over the promotion called ‘The Jacket’, which featured a model holding a mannequin seemingly wrapped in white plastic, fragments of plasterboard, a roughly painted crooked wooden box, rubble and statues, as well as other mannequins with missing limbs. 

 

“Unfortunately, some customers felt offended by these images, which have now been removed, and saw in them something far from what was intended when they were created”, Zara said in a statement posted on its Instagram account. 

 

The Inditex-owned fashion brand added that the ad campaign, which was conceived in July and photographed in September, presents a series of images of “unfinished sculptures in a sculptor’s studio and was created with the sole purpose of showcasing craft-made garments in an artistic context”.

 

UK’s Advertising Standards Authority said they had received over 100 complaints that the imagery referenced the current conflict in Gaza and was therefore offensive. 

 

In early November, UK clothing chain M&S apologized for an Instagram video showing green, white, and red paper hats burning in a fire. The company explained that the video was part of a campaign recorded in August to “playfully show that some people don’t enjoy wearing paper Christmas hats”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, some social media users argued the hats reflected the colors of the Palestinian flag. And they accused M&S of "promoting the burning of the Palestinian flag". 

 

In the end, the firm deleted the picture and apologised for any "unintentional hurt".

 

It should be noted that the colors of the festive hats are also the same as the flags of Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Oman, Lebanon, Madagascar and Burundi and are ones traditionally associated every Christmas.

The Whitest Paint Is Here – And It’s The Coolest. Literally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2021, researchers at Purdue University announced that they had developed the whitest paint on Earth. The color is so white that it can reportedly reflect 98.1% of light. 

 

This is particularly useful because light generates heat – and we here on Earth are running a bit hot these days. 

 

“If you were to use this paint to cover a roof area of about 1,000 square feet, we estimate that you could get a cooling power of 10 kilowatts. That’s more powerful than the central air conditioners used by most houses”, said Xiulin Ruan, a Purdue professor of mechanical engineering. 

 

[Note: Typical commercial white paint gets warmer rather than cooler. Paints on the market that are designed to reject heat reflect only 80%-90% of sunlight and can’t make surfaces cooler than their surroundings]. 

 

And according to one professor, we can stop global warming if we use this new super white paint. 

 

Jeremy Munday, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Davis, who researches clean technology, is in fact, looking at a bigger application, like reducing the temperature of the entire planet!

 

He hypothesizes if a material like Purdue's paint covered 1–2% of the Earth's surface, the amount of light being bounced back into space would reduce the amount of heat being absorbed by the planet enough to stabilize global temperatures. 

 

In other words, it could do a lot to solve climate change. Plus, Munday told The New York Times, the amount of light being bounced back into space wouldn't harm the cosmos very much. 

 

"It'd be like pouring a cup of regular water into the ocean", he told The Times. 

 

But just how big is 1–2% of the Earth's surface? The total surface area of the Earth is right around 197 million square miles (and most of that is water), so the paint would need to cover between roughly 2 million and 4 million square miles. 

 

For reference, the total land area of the United States is just over 3.5 million square miles, so we'd need to cover the country in white paint from sea to paint-stained sea.

 

That would be a lot of paint. A LOT. 

 

If we assume the new paint acts like commerical paint, as the Purdue researchers suggest, a gallon would cover about 400 square feet, we would need roughly 139 billion gallons of the super-duper white paint to cover just 1% of the Earth's surface. 

 

Of course, that number doubles if we need to cover 2% of the surface. And none of this takes into account how hard it would be to paint oceans, deserts, and trees. 

 

Painting things white to reduce temperatures is not a new concept. And Purdue's new paint will help. 

 

Still, if you ask me, all this sounds surreal!

Swatch Sue Malaysian Government

Swiss watchmaker Swatch have filed a lawsuit against the Malaysian government for seizing timepieces from their LGBTQ-themed Pride collection, the company’s lawyer said Monday. 

 

The move comes after 172 watches were impounded in May by the home affairs ministry's law enforcement unit because they featured "LGBT elements". [Read my post “Swatch's Pride Watches Impounded” published May 23, 2023]. 

 

In Malaysia, homosexual activity is illegal under both secular and religious laws. 

 

Anyway, Swatch insisted in their June 24 lawsuit that the watches were "not in any way capable of causing any disruption to public order or morality or any violations of the law". Furthermore, they maintained the watches "did not promote any sexual activity, but merely a fun and joyous expression of peace and love". 

 

In their promotional campaign for the Pride-themed watches, Swatch describe them as "loud, proud, uplifting and bursting with meaning". And they refer to the six-stripe Pride flag as "a symbol of humanity that speaks for all genders and all races". 

 

Swatch are seeking compensation – including in the form of aggravated and exemplary damages – and the return of 172 watches worth RM64,795 ($14,200). 

 

The lawsuit names the home affairs ministry and the government of Malaysia as respondents. Home Affairs Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail has yet to comment publicly on the matter.

Pride Colors

June is #Pridemonth. In case you didn't know, this is the most colorful month of the year since the LGBTQ+ pride is celebrated. 

 

The RAINBOW flag is used widely but it is not the only flag that people in the community connect with. In fact, there are more than 20 different Pride Flags! 

 

The 14 more common ones are:

 

Gilbert Pride Flag

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The flag that started it all! Created in 1977 by Gilbert Baker, an artist, activist, and openly gay military veteran, the rainbow flag has eight different colors. 

 

Inspired by the classic song "Over the Rainbow" from the 1939 film “The Wizard from Oz”, Baker created a rainbow flag to represent LGBTQ folks. Each color in the flag also had a specific meaning:

Hot Pink symbolizes sex 
Red equals life 
Orange symbolizes healing 
Yellow stands for sunlight 
Green represents nature
Turquoise equals magic & art
Indigo stands for serenity 
Violet represents the spirit of LGBTQ people

6-Color Pride Flag 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 6-Color Pride Flag is one of the most well-known and used LGBT flags throughout history. 

 

This flag includes the colors red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, and violet on it. Hot pink wasn´t included in the fabrication of these flags, because the fabric was hard to find. 

 

In 1979, the flag was modified again. Aiming to decorate the streetlamps along the parade route with hundreds of rainbow banners, Gilbert Baker decided to split the motif in two with an even number of stripes flanking each lamp pole. 

 

To achieve this effect, he dropped the turquoise stripe that had been used in the seven-stripe flag. The result was the six-stripe version of the flag that would become the standard for future production. 

 

Philadelphia Pride Flag 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Philadelphia Pride Flag came out in response to the demand of more inclusivity across the LGBTQ+ community. The flag launched in 2017 as part of the "More Color More Pride" campaign in Philadelphia and was designed by a small Philly-based PR agency. 

 

The addition of black and brown stripes to the traditional pride flag symbolized people of color, who historically were not always included in aspects of the mainstream gay rights movement. 

 

Lena Waithe, an American actress, wore the Philadelphia Pride Flag as a cape at the 2018 Met Gala. She is a powerful advocate for black people within the entertainment industry and this flag spiked in popularity after she elevated its visibility. 

 

Transgender Flag 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Transgender Flag was first created in 1999 by Monica Helms, a transgender woman. 

 

Light blue and pink are featured because they’re the traditional colors associated with baby boys and girls, respectively. The white stands for those who are intersex, transitioning or those who don´t feel identified with any gender. 

 

Progress Pride Flag 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Given the evolving nature of the LGBTQ+ community and society at large, the Progress Pride Flag integrates many of these flags into one. 

 

The modern pride flag now includes stripes to represent the experiences of people of color, as well as stripes to represent people who identify as transgender, gender nonconforming (GNC) and/or undefined. 

 

Daniel Quasar’s flag includes the colors of the trans flag, as well as black and brown stripes harkening back to 2017 Philadelphia Pride Flag, which sought to further represent the queer and trans identities of black and brown people. Those two stripes also represent those living with HIV/AIDS, people who have passed from the virus and the overall stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS that remains today. 

 

Nonbinary Flag 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2014, Kye Rowan created the Nonbinary Pride Flag to represent people whose gender identity does not fit within the traditional male/female binary. 

 

The colors of the nonbinary flag are yellow, white, purple, and black. The colors each symbolize a different subgroup of people who identify as nonbinary. 

 

Yellow signifies something on its own or people who identify outside of the cisgender binary of male or female. A cisgender person would be a person whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth. White, a color that consists of all colors mixed, stands for multi-gendered people. Purple, like the lavender color in the genderqueer flag, represents people who identify as a blending of male and female genders. Finally, black (the absence of color) signifies those who are agender, who feel they do not have a gender. 

 

Generally-speaking, non-binary/genderqueer people use gender-neutral pronouns. Usage of singular 'they', 'their' and 'them' is the most common. 

 

Intersex Flag 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This flag went through a number of iterations before the current Intersex Flag emerged. Previous versions embraced the rainbow that is often associated with queer pride, while others used colors like blue and pink, which are found on the transgender flag. In 2013, Morgan Carpenter chose the colors yellow and purple for the intersex flag. 

 

Morgan moved away from the rainbow symbolism and selected these colors because neither is associated with the social constructs of the gender binary. The circle is claimed to represent the wholeness of intersex people and that, supposedly, intersex people are perfect the way they are or choose to be. 

 

Asexual Flag 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Flag for the Asexual Community was created in 2010 by the Asexual Visibility and Education Network. Asexual is the lack of sexual attraction to others, or a low interest in sexual activity, but it is said asexuality can mean different things to different people. 

 

It seems that for some people, it may even mean that they rely on other types of attraction instead of or in place of sexual attraction. 

 

Asexual can be an umbrella term and each color in this flag also represents something unique. Black stands for asexuality. Gray represents demisexuality, for those who develop sexual attraction to someone only after forming a deep emotional bond with them. White stands for the allies of the community. Purple represents the entire community of asexual folks. 

 

Bisexual Flag 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bisexual Pride Flag was created in 1998 by Michael Page. His idea for the flag represents pink and blue blending to make purple. The way that bisexual people can blend into the straight community and the gay community. 

 

The colors of the flag also represent attraction to different genders. The pink symbolizes attraction to the same gender, while the blue represents attraction to a different gender. The purple represents attraction to two or more genders, the definition of bisexuality. 

 

Pansexual Flag 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This flag was created in 2010. Pansexuality represents those people who feel attracted to a person without thinking about gender. 

 

Pansexual people may refer to themselves as gender-blind, asserting that gender and sex are not determining factors in their romantic or sexual attraction to others. This means that they can feel attraction to those who identify as women, men, both or neither. 

 

The pink on the flag represents attraction to women, blue represents attraction to men, and yellow stands for attraction to those who don’t identify with either gender. 

 

Pansexuality may be considered a sexual orientation or a branch of bisexuality, to indicate an alternative sexual identity. 

 

Because pansexual people are open to relationships with people who do not identify as strictly men or women, and pansexuality therefore rejects the gender binary, it is often considered a more inclusive term than bisexual. 

 

Lesbian Flag 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This flag features different shades of pink and sometimes comes with a red kiss on it to represent lipstick lesbians (or femme lesbians and whose appearance and behavior are seen as traditionally feminine). 

 

This flag was created by Natalie McCray in 2010. Some lesbians oppose this flag because of its exclusion of butch lesbians (most often a term used to describe a lesbian who exhibits a masculine identity) – but no other flag has as much popularity as this one. 

 

In the new flag, the colors represent the following:

Darkest Orange: Gender nonconformity

Middle Orange: Independence 

Lightest Orange: Community 

White: Unique relationships to womanhood 

Lightest Pink: Serenity and peace 

Middle Pink: Love and sex 

Darkest Pink: Femininity 

Abrosexual Flag 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Abrosexual Pride Flag has existed since 2015. The flag was created by Mod Chad of pride-flags-for-us after another anonymous person requested it. It is unknown why this person chose these colors specifically. 

 

Abrosexual refers to an individual whose sexuality is changing or fluid. E.g., someone could be gay one day, then be asexual the next, then polysexual the next. While it has been claimed that it is possible – and even common – for a person's sexual identity to shift or change in some way throughout their life, an abrosexual person's sexuality may change more frequently, over the course of hours, days, months, or years! 

 

Gay Men’s Pride Flag 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gay Men’s Pride Flag is another lesser known pride flag. It features different shades of green, blue, and purple. 

 

This modern gay men’s pride flag is a revamp of an earlier gay men’s pride flag that featured a range of blue tones. That version was problematic because it used colors that were stereotypical of the gender binary. 

 

This updated flag is inclusive of a much wide range of gay men, including but not limited to transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming men. 

 

Heterosexual Pride Flag 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Straight is most viewed as men attracted to women and women attracted to men. The term "straight" is used to describe for both straight men and straight women. 

 

While straight is often used to describe non-LGBT people it is said that it is possible for straight people to be part of the LGBT community. E.g., they might be transgender. They also might be, asexual heteroromantic, or aromantic heterosexual, which also makes them LGBT. 

 

However, some believe “straight pride” events are simply the latest manifestation of anti-LGBTQ bigotry.