Castro caretakers preserve surviving piece of original San Francisco rainbow flag
SAN FRANCISCO -- Inside an unassuming storefront on 18th Street near Castro, it is hard not to be immediately drawn to the bright and vibrant colors of the newest -- and one of the most prized -- artifacts representing the history of the gay and lesbian cultural movement: the last remaining remnant of the original rainbow flag.
"It's a pretty amazing piece," says Andrew Shaffer.
The GLBT Historical Society Museum is the first stand-alone museum of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender history and culture in the United States. As co-executive director of the museum, Shaffer is one of the caretakers of the flag.
It is a responsibility he takes seriously.
"Because we want these things to survive not only for the people who are alive today, but the people who will be around 100 years from now, or 200 years from now," explained Shaffer.
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It was 44 years ago, during the 1978 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade that the first two rainbow flags proudly flew above the city's U.N. Plaza.
The flags were created by gay activist and artist Gilbert Baker and a team of volunteers including Lynn Segerblom, James McNamara, Glenne McElhinney, Joe Duran, and Paul Langlotz.
A close examination of the remnant shows intensely saturated colors, as well as stitching done on muslin fabric. Shaffer explained that the flag makers tie-dyed the material. They were part of the hippie movement and were familiar with the methodology.
"So that's kind of what they followed to make this," noted Shaffer.
From imagery taken at the time, including KPIX archival film, you can see that these flags were massive: 30 feet tall by 60 feet wide.
They were so big that the muslin fabric could not survive San Francisco winds. Special metal rings were then inserted to make them sturdier. The rings, known as grommets, actually came in handy. They helped the GLBT Historical Society authenticate the flag as the real thing.
"Luckily for us, 40 years later, one of the guys who worked with a flag company was able to use those same grommets to verify that this was the original artifact," recounted Shaffer.
That guy, explained Shaffer, was James Ferrigan from the Paramount Flag Company, which was located in San Francisco. Both Ferrigan and Baker worked there.
Today, the fragment of the flag that now sits inside the museum is literally only a fraction of the original.
"The story that we were able to construct is that the original flag was stored in a sort of leaky attic. And when Gilbert went back to retrieve it a month or probably a year later, the bulk of the flag had been mildewed and in severe damage," said Shaffer.
He added that Gilbert cut off about a third of it and told people for a long time that the original was destroyed.
"Two thirds of it was gone. He just forgot to mention that one third of it was still around and stuck away in his closet somewhere," Shaffer said.
And from out of the closet, the beautiful remnant is now on display. It has become the centerpiece of the museum and an emotional beacon for visitors and the caretakers of the rainbow.
The remnant was donated by the Gilbert Baker Foundation in April of 2020. It officially went on display in June of 2021.