An animated Google Doodle on Friday pays tribute to the rainbow flag.
The doodle was designed not to honor the flag, but the man who created it.
Gilbert Baker created what would become a symbol of pride, love and acceptance as a response to the Nazis in World War II and their symbol of hate: the pink triangle, CNET reported.
Baker would have turned 66 on June 2. He died in his sleep March 31 in his New York home, The New York Times reported.
His first rainbow flag, created in 1978, had eight colored bars that symbolized the diversity of the gay community. Two colors -- turquoise and pink -- had to be dropped because of production issues. Pink fabric was expensive and turquoise was combined with blue to make royal blue, The Times reported.
Thirty volunteers hand-dyed and sewed together more than 1,000 yards of fabric in the attic of the Gay Community Center in San Francisco, CNET reported.
The flags made their first public appearance at the city’s Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978.
The original flag that Baker created is now at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
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