Like the pink triangle, the black triangle is also a symbol rooted in Nazi Germany. Today, for many the pink triangle represents pride, solidarity, and a promise to never allow another occurrence of the Holocaust. They inverted the symbol, making it point up, to signify an active fight back rather than a passive resignation to fate. In the 1980s, ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power) began using the pink triangle as part of their activism. Not only is the symbol easily recognized, it also draws attention to the historical and current oppression and persecution of homosexuals.
In the 1970s, gay liberation groups resurrected the pink triangle as a popular symbol for the gay rights movement. When the war was finally over, countless homosexuals remained prisoners in the camps, because Paragraph 175 remained law in West Germany until its repeal in 1969. Estimates of the number of gay men killed during the Nazi regime range from 50,000 to twice that figure. The guards and even other inmates often attacked pink triangle prisoners.Īlthough homosexual prisoners reportedly were not shipped in mass to the death camps at Auschwitz, a great number of gay men were among the non-Jews who were killed there. Stories from the camps explain that homosexual prisoners were given the worst tasks and labors. A yellow Star of David under a superimposed pink triangle marked the lowest of all prisoners - a gay Jew. Two yellow triangles overlapping to form a Star of David designated a Jewish prisoner. A green triangle marked its wearer as a regular criminal a red triangle denoted a political prisoner. This designation also served to establish a sort of social hierarchy among the prisoners. Then, in 1942 Hitler's punishment for homosexuality was murder.Įach prisoner in the concentration camps wore a colored inverted triangle to designate their reason for incarceration. They were punished by sterilization, most often accomplished by castration. Convicted offenders - an estimated 25,000 just from 1937 to 1939 - were sent to prison and then later to concentration camps. Paragraph 175, a clause in German law prohibiting homosexual relations, was revised by Hitler in 1935 to include same-sex fantasies, kissing, embracing, and gay sexual acts. The history of the pink triangle begins before WWII, during Adolf Hitler's rise to power. The pink triangle challenges that notion, and defies anyone to deny history. Although homosexuals were only one of the many groups targeted for extermination by the Nazi regime, it is unfortunately the group that history often excludes. The pink triangle symbol is rooted in World War II times, and reminds us of the atrocities of that era. The pink triangle is easily one of the more popular and widely used and recognized symbols for the gay community. Some recent flags have added a brown and black stripe as a reminder of how important the intersectionality of persons of color are in this community. There are plenty of variations of the flag, including versions with superimposed lambdas, pink triangles, or other symbols. The rainbow flag has inspired a wide variety of related symbols and accessories, such as freedom rings. The flag has six stripes, each color representing a component of the community: red for life, orange for healing, yellow for sun, green for nature, royal blue for harmony, and violet for spirit. Borrowing symbolism from the hippie movement and black civil rights groups, San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker designed the rainbow flag in response to a need for a symbol that could be used year after year. Use of the rainbow flag by the gay community began in 1978 when it first appeared in the San Francisco Gay and Lesbian Freedom Day Parade. The rainbow plays a part in many myths and stories related to gender and sexuality issues in Greek, Aboriginal, African, and other cultures. The rainbow flag has become the easily-recognized colors of pride for the gay community. Symbols within the GSD Community Rainbow Flag