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Disability Pride Flag Colors and Symbolism

Posted on 07/01/25 by Isabel in General

July marks Disability Pride Month, a time to celebrate the diverse members of the disability community for who they are. It promotes awareness and understanding of everyone's unique experiences, fostering inclusion and acceptance. These celebrations often feature the disability pride flag. Let's dive into the significance of the disability pride flag's unique symbolism.

The History of Disability Pride

Celebrating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed on July 26, 1990. This landmark civil rights law provides legal protection to protect the rights of people with disabilities. The ADA prohibits disability-based discrimination and promotes equal access and rights for people with disabilities. To celebrate this milestone in the disability rights movement, July 26 became Disability Pride Day.

Until the 25th anniversary of the ADA, Disability Pride remained a single-day annual celebration. In July of 2015, July officially became Disability Pride Month. During Disability Pride Month, individuals with disabilities embrace their identity in the disability community, promote awareness, combat ableism, share lived experience, and uplift each other.

The Evolution of the Disability Pride Flag

On the 20th anniversary of the ADA, Ann Magill, a writer with Cerebral Palsy, who focused on disability, social equity, and disability justice, attended an official celebration for Disability Pride event. Yet, she felt something was missing, a visual representation of disability pride.

In 2019, Magill designed the original version of disability pride flag as a unifying symbol of the disability pride movement. It featured six colors coming together in zigzag lines. The distinct colors and patterns held special significance. Each color represented a specific type of disability. Meanwhile, the zigzag lines demonstrated the unique challenges the disability community encounters.

Although her original design was well-regarded by the disability community, the bright colors and zigzag design also caused accessibility issues by triggering symptoms for individuals with photosensitivity disabilities.

In response to feedback from people in the community, Magill redesigned the flag with muted colors and diagonal stripes in 2021. Applying insight from people with photosensitivity helped create an accessible design for the disability pride flag.

Meaning Behind Disability Pride Flag

To bring awareness of diversity in the disability community, Magill leveraged color symbolism in the disability pride flag's design. All six colors on the disability pride flag provide a visual representation of a different category of disability. Let's explore the meaning of the flag's color categories.

Black for Mourning Violence and Combating Ableism

Disability Pride celebrations came after decades of fighting for disability rights. Not wanting to undermine this ongoing fight against ableism and violence that people with disabilities face, Magill included this in the design.

The two faded charcoal black exterior stripes on the disability pride flag mourn and commemorate the darkness many people with disabilities encounter. This area of the flag also represents these negative lived experiences of people with disabilities, such as lives lost, harmful assumptions, discrimination against individuals with disabilities, and ableist violence that abuse victims endure, to name a few.

Red for Physical Disabilities

The Red stripe represents physical disabilities on the disability pride flag. Physical disabilities affect a person's movement, making walking, running, or doing other physical activities challenging. There are many kinds of physical disabilities, and some common examples include:

Neurodiversity As Gold

A gold line represents neurodiversity/neurodivergence on the disability pride flag. Neurodiversity is a type of disability that impacts the brain's behavior. This category of disability can alter how someone thinks, speaks, learns, and interacts. Some examples of neurodiversity include:

  • Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
  • Intellectual Disabilities (ID)
  • Developmental Disabilities (DD)
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  • Dyslexia

White for Undiagnosed Disabilities

A white stripe symbolizes the experiences of individuals with non-visible and undiagnosed disabilities. Invisible disabilities are difficult to notice immediately. Magill picked the white band as a metaphor for their disability's invisibility, going unnoticed or undiagnosed. This metaphor stems from white being a shade, not a color.

Blue for Emotional and Psychiatric Disabilities

Emotional and psychiatric disabilities, such as mental health, are represented with a blue line. This type of disability impacts a person's mental state and how they react to situations. A few examples of emotional and psychiatric disabilities include:

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Bipolar Disorder
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Eating Disorders
  • Personality Disorders
  • Schizophrenia
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Green for Sensory Disabilities

The green stripe is for people with sensory disabilities. This type of disability affects an individual's five senses. Some types of sensory disabilities include:

  • Vision-related: blindness, low-vision, and color blindness
  • Hearing-related: Deafness or hard of hearing
  • Auditory Processing Disorders

As you can see, the disability pride flag is a powerful symbol of the representation of disability pride. This ensures the disability community feels heard and represented during Disability Pride Month. Join us and Ann Magill in celebrating Disability Pride and the ADA in July!

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