Free museum entry for New Zealanders and people living in New Zealand

Flags and symbols

Pride flags and symbols celebrate the diversity of LGBTQI+ communities and call for a more inclusive society. Badges, placards, flags and pins are all ways to express ourselves, protest, show Pride, connect and make a statement, big or small.

  • Progress Pride flag

    This badge is the Intersex-inclusive Progress Pride flag designed by Valentino Vecchietti in 2021. The design incorporates the Progress Pride flag which was developed in 2018 by non-binary American artist and designer Daniel Quasar, which in turn incorporated the colours of the Rainbow flag designed by American artist Gilbert Baker in 1978. The flag also includes the trans flag (blue, pink, white), with brown and black for marginalised People of Colour. Black also represents those who live with, or who have died from HIV/AIDS. The chevron arrow shape represents moving forward and making progress in the community.

  • Wavy rainbow stripes of pink, red, orange, yellow, green, light blue, dark blue and purple acrylic paint on canvas.

    Gilbert Baker's Rainbow Flag

    Gilbert Baker designed the first Rainbow Flag in 1978. Since then, his flag has been embraced across the world as the universal symbol of pride and solidarity for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex (LGBTQI+) communities.

  • Rainbow Room

    New Zealand Parliament's Rainbow Room is a select committee meeting room dedicated to the nation’s gay, lesbian, and transgender community and to their contribution to New Zealand society.

    Watch the short documentary film "Rainbow Voices of Aotearoa New Zealand" about the opening of the Rainbow Room on the New Zealand Parliament website.

  • Large-scale printed paper magazine titled Hero 1994 with 'visions unleashed' along the bottom right edge. Featuring colour photograph of orange flowers against green leaves.

    Designing the Hero festivals

    Peter Roband was a graphic designer in Auckland in the 1990s. He volunteered to help design branding and collateral for the 1993 and 1994 Hero festivals, including the programme covers. He speaks with history curator Stephanie Gibson.

  • Chris Brickell holds a pink Air New Zealand travel bag. An illustration of an aeroplane flies behind him with a pink flag saying ‘Pride’ behind it

    Watch: What makes a queer object?

    The world is full of queer objects. But what exactly makes an object queer? Can a telephone be queer? Chris Brickell, co-editor of the book Queer Objects (OUP, 2019), which features everything from a teapot to a sex toy, talks us through what makes an object queer with taonga from Te Papa’s collection.