Today, the rainbow flag flies everywhere.
But in 1978, it was a dream borne out of love and LSD.

In his new, posthumously released memoir Rainbow Warrior: My Life in Color, Pride flag designer Gilbert Baker recalls a psychedelic night spent dancing in a San Francisco nightclub, noticing the colors all around him: black leather, pink hair, blue jeans.

 “We rode the mirrored ball on glittering LSD and love power,” Baker writes. “Dance fused us, magical and cleansing. We were all in a swirl of color and light. It was like a rainbow.”That, Baker notes, was “the moment when I knew exactly what kind of flag I would make.” And make the flag he did, first sewing it by hand and eventually popularizing the rainbow as a global LGBTQ symbol.

Pride Flag Creator Tells All in New Memoir