Cork to Become First City Outside US to Host Original Gilbert Baker Rainbow Flag

Cork is set to make history as the first city in the world outside the United States to host the original Gilbert Baker Rainbow Flag, the global symbol of LGBTI+ pride, visibility, inclusion and equality.

Cork City Council will welcome a delegation from San Francisco next week, loaning the flag fragment to Cork Public Museum for public display for four months. The artefact was donated to the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco in 2021, and this marks the first time it has ever been loaned or exhibited outside the US.

Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Damian Boylan:

"The Gilbert Baker Flag visit provides a unique opportunity to deepen relationships between Cork and San Francisco while showcasing Cork's commitment to equality, inclusion and community engagement.

Through the range of civic events, activities and networking events planned around the flag's arrival, the programme will celebrate the achievements of LGBTI+ communities while acknowledging the ongoing work required to create safe, inclusive and welcoming spaces for all – and Cork City, and indeed Cork City Council's proud role in that work for decades."

Chief Executive of Cork City Council, Valerie O'Sullivan:

"It is a tremendous honour for Cork to become the first city outside the United States to host the original Gilbert Baker Rainbow Flag. This historic visit reflects Cork's long-standing commitment to equality, inclusion and human rights, and highlights the strong and enduring relationship between Cork and San Francisco."

The visit reflects the longstanding twinning relationship between Cork and San Francisco, which dates from 1984, and has been supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs through Ireland's Consulate in San Francisco.

GLBT Historical Society Executive Director, Roberto Ordeñana:

"As stewards of the original Rainbow Flag, created in 1978, we are entrusted with preserving its history and increasing greater awareness of its legacy.

The Rainbow flag's importance extends far beyond any one museum, city, or nation—our shared history belongs to all of us, regardless of borders.

This international collaboration reaffirms our commitment to keeping LGBTQ+ history visible and accessible to all and sharing global solidarity during a moment when the most vulnerable among our LGBTQ community face increased attacks and erasure all around the world."

Consul General San Francisco, Micheál Smith:

"Cork and San Francisco are connected not only by history, migration and commerce, but by a shared belief that every person should be free to live authentically and with dignity. The transfer of the original Gilbert Baker Rainbow Flag is a powerful symbol of that connection."

Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora, Neale Richmond TD:

"The iconic LGBTQ+ flag carries profound cultural significance, history and is a symbol of inclusion, pride and togetherness.

Over the past 25 years, there has been great progress in terms of equality for LGBTQ+ communities, unfortunately that progress is under attack and too many are seeking to row back the many hard won gains."

A week of events

A week-long programme of events will run across Cork City from 17 to 24 August to mark the flag's arrival and celebrate LGBTI+ heritage, inclusion and community development.

The San Francisco delegates will meet representatives from Cork's LGBTI+ community through visits organised by the Cork LGBTI+ Interagency Group, with participating organisations including The Gay Project, LINQ Ireland, Sexual Health Centre and The Gender Rebels. Visits to the English Market and City Hall are also planned.

An official Lord Mayor's Reception will be held on 20 August to formally welcome the delegation. Delegates will also visit the Rainbow Cities Network International Photography Exhibition, Bi+ Visibility and Pride, at Cork City Library, highlighting the experiences, resilience and diversity of bisexual people. On the same day as that visit, a public panel discussion titled "The Gilbert Baker Flag: Safety and the LGBTI+ Community" will examine contemporary challenges and opportunities facing the community, followed by a networking reception.

The programme also includes a literary evening with Irish poet and writer Rosamund Taylor, exploring themes of queer identity, belonging, love, community and self-discovery through readings and discussion.

The flag's arrival coincides with the opening of Cork City Museum's first permanent LGBTI+ archive exhibition, featuring material spanning more than four decades of the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender history.

A history of firsts

Cork has recorded several milestones in Irish LGBT history: the first National Gay Conference in 1981, the first motion passed by a trade union supporting LGBT workers' rights in 1982, the publication of the first Irish AIDS leaflet in 1984, the first LGBT Film Festival in 1991, and the first LGBT float in a St Patrick's Day Parade anywhere in the world in 1992.

Cork City Council became the first local authority in the State to support marriage equality in 2012, and in 2014 became the first city and first public building in Ireland to fly the Rainbow Flag over City Hall, a flag gifted by the late San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and raised by then Lord Mayor John Buttimer. In 2020, Cork became the first and remains the only city on the island of Ireland to join the International Rainbow Cities Network, and in 2022 became the first local authority in Ireland to install a Rainbow Balustrade at City Hall.

About the flag

The original Rainbow flag was designed by artist and activist Gilbert Baker in 1978, hand-stitched and dyed by Baker and a team of 30 volunteers for the San Francisco 1978 Gay Freedom Day. Two flags, each around 30 feet high by 60 feet wide and made from a thousand yards of white muslin, were hoisted at United Nations Plaza in place of the usual US and UN flags. The fragment coming to Cork is from the flag with pink at the top and without the star canton. The eight-stripe design was later modified by Baker in 1979 into the more familiar six-stripe flag.