New Hope Celebrates Adopts A New Flag

NEW HOPE, PA — New Hope Celebrates, the borough's annual celebration of its LGBTQ+ community since 2003, has adopted a new flag designed to more fully include transgender people and people of color.

The organization announced Wednesday that it is now using what's called the Progress Flag.

That flag builds off of the six-striped rainbow flag, which was created in 1978 and has been used since to signal pride and acceptance for, and among, the gay community. That is the flag that New Hope Celebrates had used since its inception.

In 2017, the City of Philadelphia added black and brown horizontal stripes to the flag to specifically recognize people of color. And, the next year, designer Daniel Quasar re-imagined the flag once again, adding a chevron pattern with white, pink and light blue stripes to recognize transgender people.

The Progress Flag will be used for New Hope Celebrates' annual flag-unfurling on Saturday, May 8.

"We have many reasons to continue the Pride movement for minority groups of people in our communities, such as transgender individuals and people of color who need and deserve equality," said New Hope Celebrates President Matt Hanson.

Hanson said the nonprofit group has formed an Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accessibility and Anti-Racism committee to further that effort.

For the second year in a row, New Hope Celebrates 2021 will be held in keeping with safety protocols for the COVID-19 pandemic. The event's annual parade has been called off and, instead, the group is planning events that can be experienced safely in May and June.

Events currently planned include the celebration's annual best-cocktail contest, the annual flag unfurling, several drag shows, a book club event, mental health events, a Pride bike ride, a Pride drive-in movie and more.

New Hope Celebrates also plans to highlight Hispanic Heritage Month in September and other events are planned to recognize the intersection of the LGBTQ+ community and communities of color.

Details about events will be posted at the New Hope Celebrates website as they become available, the group said.

Founded by local business leaders in 2003, New Hope Celebrates traditionally hosts one of the region's largest Pride celebrations. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to promoting the New Hope area as a culturally diverse destination for all who believe in equality.