Original Gilbert Baker Rainbow Pride Flag

Flag is made of thin, light, soft fabric. All stripes are printed on one sheet, not separate strips of fabric sewn together. Grommets are on one of the 3ft sides. Edges are hemmed with what looks to be clear plastic thread, similar to thin fishing line. There was a tiny brown smudge on the blue stripe, but it isn't noticeable unless you are looking for it.

Some colors are not quite accurate to the product image; the teal, indigo, and purple stripes look more like sky blue, purple, and magenta, respectively, in real life. This is too bad because I love the colors of the original flag, but for people who aren't discerning between the Gilbert Baker original (this one) and the versions more commonly used nowadays, it probably isn't noticeable. Also, this is not the original Baker flag, this is the updated 2017 version, with the lavender stripe on the top added for community diversity. I like the inclusion of the lavender stripe and was happy to see this version offered here because it was difficult to find elsewhere.

When the flag arrived it was folded in a small package, and it came out heavily creased. I looked into how to care for SuperTex fabric and could find basically nothing, so I emailed Queer In The World and they replied the next day. This is what the email said:

"I’ve checked with the manufacturer and you can use a clothing steamer and you can hang the item flat and apply gentle steam to the wrinkles until they flatten and relax. Your second option is to hand or machine wash cold and then hang dry it. It is not recommended to iron however if you do it is essential that you use the steam function when you iron your flag. If your iron does not have this function, you can use a spray bottle by spraying down the entire surface of your flag so that it is slightly damp. Please make sure to set your iron to its lowest possible heat setting so you don’t risk overheating your flag and/or burning it."

I personally used an iron with a steam function on its medium setting and placed an all-cotton pillowcase on top of the flag. It took about an hour of steaming and ironing but the deep creases were greatly reduced. I would not recommend throwing it in the dryer because I don't know what will happen with the plastic hemming thread.

If I had paid twice as much (or more) for this flag I would have given it only three stars due to the color inaccuracy, but because it's only $15 and I bought it on sale for $10, and because a staff member replied quickly with helpful instructions, I am giving it four stars! Happy pride! 🏳️‍🌈