A group of trans, nonbinary, and allied activists in Australia recently made what they say is the biggest trans Pride flag ever and unfurled it in a park yesterday.

And it’s huge – over 130 by 65 feet (or over 8,400 square feet) of white, pink, and light blue stripes, unfurled in the Brisbane suburb of West End, to honor the Trans Day of Visibility.

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“All trans and gender diverse people deserve the things we need to live good lives, like access to secure housing, proper healthcare, and good jobs,” Jodie Hall of Gender Justice Meanjin, the group behind the flag, told LGBTQ Nation via email when asked what the message behind the flag was. “And we deserve the same rights and protections under the law as everyone else.”

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Hall said the group was inspired by previous giant flags flown in the U.S., such as a 200-foot-long flag raised in Utah last year and a 55-by-35-foot flag raised in Yosemite National Park.

She said that 30 people came together to sew the giant flag, and it took them 10 days to complete the project. The final product “weighs heaps” and took “a lot of people to move it around.”

Then, yesterday at 3 p.m., around 100 people gathered in Davies Park to carry it in and unfurl it.

“Unfurling the world’s largest trans flag was incredibly exciting,” Hall said. “It was a real moment of pride to see our community making history.”

She said that passersby noticed it and took pictures, which she has seen getting shared online. “I’ve been absolutely blown away by the positive response. People absolutely love the flag.”

The flag unfurling comes as conservative lawmakers crack down on Pride flags. Idaho’s Republican governor this week signed a new Pride flag ban, while the current presidential administration has banned government buildings and monuments from flying Pride flags. The federal government went so far as to remove Pride flags from the National Stonewall Monument this year, despite it being the only national monument to recognize a moment in LGBTQ+ history.

The anti-flag movement hit Australia last year, when the Northern Territory government ordered hospitals to remove Pride flags, saying they don’t comply with “longstanding… protocol.”

Hall said that the trans Pride flag is a powerful symbol that brings people together.

“The trans flag is a beautiful symbol of our whole trans and gender diverse community,” she said. “It stands for our resistance and triumphs, and serves as a declaration of our right to thrive.”

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