Rainbow flags at New York Pride
© Alan Schein/Getty Image
Flying the flag for Pride. Pride 2025
In the early hours of June 28, 1969, a police raid at the Stonewall Inn in New York's Greenwich Village met unexpected resistance. Fed up with years of harassment, LGBTQIA+ patrons fought back. What followed was six days of unrest—and the start of a movement. Led in part by trans activists like Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, the uprising challenged not only police brutality but society's silence. Stonewall wasn't the beginning of queer existence, but it was the moment people said 'no more' loud enough to be heard worldwide. The first Pride marches came the next year, not as parties, but as protests. Thousands marched in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago to mark the anniversary of Stonewall. Holding signs and chanting for liberation, they demanded visibility, rights, and justice.
Our photo today, of course, is of the now-iconic rainbow flag that symbolizes LGBTQIA+ Pride. It's a lively, hopeful statement that promotes inclusivity and acceptance. Long may it wave.
Related Images
The front line of demonstrators during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963
Jemaa el-Fnaa Square in Marrakesh, Morocco
At the top of Mount Fuji in Japan
'Field of Light at Sensorio,' by Bruce Munro, Paso Robles, California
Crown Fountain by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa, Millennium Park, Chicago
Jim Henson, along with Ernie and Bert, rehearses for an episode of 'Sesame Street' in 1970 in New York City
Illuminated icicles in Chichibu, Japan
German ski jumper Markus Eisenbichler competing in the Four Hills Tournament, Innsbruck, Austria, on January 3, 2018
Bing Today Images
