Cork becomes the first city in the world outside the US to exhibit the original Rainbow flag
20/08/2026
Cork has become the first city in the world outside the United States of America to host the original Gilbert Baker Rainbow Flag - the global symbol of LGBTI+ pride, visibility, inclusion and equality.
This extraordinary piece of social and cultural history was unveiled at an event at Cork City Council’s Cork Public Museum in Fitzgerald’s Park on Thursday night where it will remain on public display for four months under the terms of a landmark loan agreement with the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco.
The large fragment of the original Pride flag was donated to the GLBT Historical Society in 2021 but this is the first time that the artefact has ever be loaned and exhibited outside the US.
The Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Damian Boylan, said the city is honoured to accept it.
“Our city’s motto, "Statio Bene Fida Carinis", often translated as "A Safe Harbour for Ships", speaks of shelter from storms, a place of protection for ships, of the comfort of knowing that when you arrive here, you have reached a place of safety,” the Lord Mayor said.
“As we accept the Gilbert Baker flag and become its custodians for the next four months, we should pause for a moment and reflect on those words - how our city provides a safe harbour not only for ships, but for people too.
“The welcome we extend must be more than symbolic.
“It must be more than words engraved on a crest or spoken from a platform.
“A safe harbour is only a safe harbour if those who seek shelter feel that sense of safety.”
He asked guests at the launch to consider how we can ensure a city is truly a safe harbour for all, and suggested the answer “lies in action…in creating schools, workplaces, public services, and communities where people feel safe to be themselves, where diversity is valued, where difference is embraced”.
“It lies in the choices we make every day to stand up for one another. It requires courage, it requires leadership, it requires all of us to play our part,” the Lord Mayor said.
“The Gilbert Baker Flag was created as a symbol of hope - just like the promise of a safe harbour. We know that storms will come. But when they do come, nobody should have to face them alone.
“So as we proudly welcome the Gilbert Baker Flag to Cork, let us also embrace the responsibility it carries, that the values it represents are woven into our everyday lives.
“Let us ensure that when future generations look back on this moment, they will see that not only did Cork display this great flag, that we all lived up to what the flag asked of us. To be a safe harbour – for all.”
GLBT Historical Society Executive Director, Roberto Ordeñana, said it’s important to share the flag with the people of Cork, Ireland and the world.
“It’s particularly important at a time when the most historically marginalised people – transgender people, immigrants, working families - are being attacked. This flag is a symbol of hope and resilience and a symbol of global solidarity,” he said.
“This international collaboration reaffirms our commitment to keeping LGBTQ+ history visible and accessible to all and sharing global solidarity during a moment when the most vulnerable among our LGBTQ community face increased attacks and erasure all around the world.”
The flag's arrival in Cork coincides with the opening of Cork City Museum's first permanent LGBTI+ archive exhibition, which includes material spanning more than four decades of the history of the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.
The first international display of the flag is the result of a partnership between Cork City Council, the GLBT Historical Society and Museum, supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs, through Ireland’s Consulate in San Francisco, and the San Francisco-Cork Sister City Committee.
The visit also reflects the longstanding twinning relationship between Cork and San Francisco, which dates from 1984.
A week-long programme of events has been taking place across Cork City this week to celebrate the flag’s arrival, and LGBTI+ heritage, inclusion and community development.
The San Francisco delegates have met representatives from Cork's vibrant LGBTI+ community through a series of visits organised by the Cork LGBTI+ Interagency Group to groups including Gay Project, LINQ Ireland, Sexual Health Centre and The Gender Rebels, with visits to the historic English Market and City Hall also on their itinerary.
They have also attended an official Lord Mayor's Reception and visited the Rainbow Cities Network International Photography Exhibition, Bi+ Visibility and Pride, at Cork City Library.
A public panel discussion in City Hall on Friday, entitled "The Gilbert Baker Flag: Safety and the LGBTI+ Community", will bring together representatives and active members of Cork's LGBTI+ community to examine contemporary challenges and opportunities facing the community today.
Discussion topics will include the role of visibility in promoting equality and inclusion, contemporary challenges facing LGBTI+ communities, building safer and more inclusive communities, and the importance of preserving and sharing LGBTI+ history and heritage. The discussion will be followed by a networking reception.
Among the other highlights of the programme was a literary evening with acclaimed Irish poet and writer Rosamund Taylor, one of Ireland's leading contemporary LGBTQ+ literary voices, who through readings and discussion, explored themes of queer identity, belonging, love, community and self-discovery.
Many of Ireland’s firsts of Irish LGBT history happened in Cork, including the first National Gay Conference (1981), the first motion passed by a Trade Union supporting LGBT workers’ rights (1982), the publication of the first Irish AIDS leaflet (1984), the first LGBT Film Festival (1991), and the first LGBT float in a St Patrick’s Day Parade anywhere in the world (1992).