Lambda gay

The original image was purposely not copyrighted so it is in the public domain.

The color lavender is often used to denote homosexuality, although the origins of its use are not clear. Then, in 1942 Hitler's punishment for homosexuality was murder.

Each prisoner in the concentration camps wore a colored inverted triangle to designate their reason for incarceration.

There are plenty of variations of the flag, including versions with superimposed lambdas, pink triangles, or other symbols. As their symbol for lesbian and gay rights, the lambda became internationally popular.

Whatever the exact meaning and origin, the lambda originally embodied a fairly militant connotation.

The sincerest hope for the Ribbon Project is that it will one day no longer be needed because AIDS has been cured.

 

Gay-Teen Suicide Awareness Ribbon

This ribbon, used mainly online, was created by Xavier Neptus, a personal survivor of  attempted teen suicide himself. 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.

In the 1970’s, some lesbian feminists used three interlocking female symbols to represent their rejection of male standards of monogamy.

Also in the 1970s, gay liberation movements used the male and female symbols superimposed to represent the common goals of lesbians and gay men. The Lambda flag, with the Greek letter "L", is one of many variations on the standard six-striped Rainbow flag that has become the basis for the Gay flag worldwide.
Steve Stringfellow, 16 Mar 1999

The rainbow with the lambda did come both ways [both red on top and purple on top] in the 1980’ies.

Lavender became popular in American lesbian circles in the 1930s as a colloquial term for other lesbians.

 

AIDS Awareness Ribbon

The AIDS Awareness Ribbon, or red ribbon, is commonly worn on jacket lapels and other articles of clothing as a symbol of solidarity and commitment to fight against AIDS.

The Ribbon Project was conceived in 1991 by Visual AIDS, a New York-based charity group of art professionals that aims to recognize and honor friends and colleagues who have died or are dying of AIDS.

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. 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.

In the 1970s, gay liberation groups resurrected the pink triangle as a popular symbol for the gay rights movement.

The ring represents the individual, with the male and the female balanced at either side.

 

Labrys

The labrys is a double-sided hatchet or axe commonly used in ancient European, African, and Asian matriarchal societies as both a weapon and a harvesting tool. This was done because the “official” name of Sparta was "Lacedaimonia" ["Λακεδαίμων | Lakedaímɔn" — ed.].

Today, for many the pink triangle represents pride, solidarity, and a promise to never allow another occurrence of the Holocaust.

 

Black Triangle

Like the pink triangle, the black triangle is also a symbol rooted in Nazi Germany. This was also a problem for gays and lesbians prior to 1969 as very few were willing to "come out".

 

Gender Symbols

Gender Symbols are common astrological signs handed down from ancient Roman times.

It became the symbol of their growing movement of gay liberation. Since the 1970s, gays have used double interlocking male symbols to represent gay men. Its first appearance was in a series of Boston subway posters during 1973. The pointed Mars symbol represents the male and the Venus symbol with the cross represents the female.

A transgender person might superimpose the male and female symbols in such a way that the arrow and cross join on the same single ring.

 

Mercury (Transgender) Symbols

The astrological sign of Mercury is traditionally the symbol of transgender people. However, I seem to be mistaken.
António Martins, 31 May 1999

I was told once that the Lambda (or "L") derives from ancient Sparta: Its citizen-militia promoted homosexuality among its members… The Spartan military used shields which sported the letter Lambda as a “heraldic” device.

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.

 

Pink Triangle

The pink triangle is easily one of the more popular and widely used and recognized symbols for the gay community. Visual AIDS encourages arts organizations, museums, commercial galleries, and AIDS support groups to commemorate those lost to AIDS, to create greater awareness of AIDS/HIV transmission, to publicize the needs of Persons With AIDS, and to call for greater funding of services and research.

Others disagree, citing the use of lambda in physics to denote energy (the energy we have when we work in concert) or wavelength (are gays and lesbians on a different wavelength?). The pink triangle symbol is rooted in World War II times, and reminds us of the atrocities of that era.