Activists unveil 'Pro-Life Flag' uniting global movement against abortion
After more than 1,000 designs were submitted to a worldwide contest, a pro-life grassroots group has selected a flag design to represent the international pro-life movement.
The Pro-Life Flag Project unveiled the flag on its Twitter page Saturday.
The flag, designed by Brazilian graphic designer Nanda Gasperini, features pink and blue stripes running horizontally across the middle of the flag with pink and blue baby feet surrounded by the loving hands of the baby’s mother enclosed in a circle at the flag's center.
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It's official! Flag F won the vote and is now the Pro-Life Flag! Learn more and get yours today: https://t.co/mRoH8G2H16pic.twitter.com/9OJMhMOhWQ
— Pro-Life Flag Project (@ProLifeFlag) July 24, 2021
As explained on the Pro-Life Flag Project’s website, the white background "symbolizes non-violence in the womb" and the "innocence of the unborn child."
"The two baby feet represent the humanity of the unborn child," the website explains. "Baby feet have been a symbol associated with the pro-life movement since the iconic Precious Feet lapel pins were named the international pro-life symbol in 1979.”
The two pink hands represent the pregnant mother "holding and protecting her child."
"The white heart in between the feet symbolizes the pro-life movement’s love for both the mother and her child," the website added. "The circle shape formed by the hands evoke imagery of a pregnant mother’s stomach, a safe, secure, protected place for a developing child.”
The remaining symbolism on the flag means “different things to different people.” While the pink and blue stripes on the banner “emphasize the TWO distinct human lives in a pregnancy,” they also “form an ‘equals sign,’ stressing that the unborn child is equally and fully human, and therefore deserving of equal human rights.”
Another interpretation is the stripes represent “the role of both the father and mother in creating and raising a child.”
Although pink and blue traditionally represent baby boys and girls, respectively, the Pro-Life Flag Project contends that “the two distinct colors also reemphasize the two lives present in a pregnancy: mother and child.”
Launched in March 2020, the Pro-Life Flag Project is “a grassroots initiative designed to facilitate the creation of a universally recognized symbol for the pro-life movement."
The project's supporters believe it is a "symbol that would unify, brand, and raise awareness for the end-goal it represents: ending abortion.”
Following a “public design contest and a movement-wide vote” where “thousands of flag designs were entered into the contest,” six flags were selected as finalists before the winner was declared Saturday.
Once the Pro-Life Flag Project organizers narrowed the finalists, pro-lifers had the opportunity to vote in an online poll for the flag that they wanted to represent the movement.
A runoff poll asked pro-lifers to select from the three most popular flags based on the initial poll results. And from there, the winner was declared.
“Just as the rainbow flag has raised awareness for and significantly contributed to the success of the LGBTQ movement* or as the Thin Blue Line flag* has come to represent support for law enforcement, flying or displaying the pro-life flag will be a means by which everyday pro-life supporters can stand in solidarity with the larger pro-life movement," the organization states.
"People around the country and around the world, regardless of their stance on abortion, will see the flag, know its meaning, and be compelled to think about the reality of abortion."
Partners of the Pro-Life Flag Project include more than two dozen national pro-life organizations, such as Democrats for Life of America, Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, March for Life International and Students for Life of America. They also include seven international groups, several state-level Right to Life organizations and local grassroots groups.
Pro-life flags measuring three feet by five feet are available for purchase for $25.
The Pro-Life Flag Project has secured a license on the design so that “any pro-life non-profit organization may freely copy, reproduce, promote, and sell any products containing the design.” The organization wants the flag displayed on “bumper stickers, t-shirts, lapel pins, hats and flagpoles.”
Dr. Michael New, a research associate at the Catholic University of America and an outspoken supporter of the pro-life movement, reacted favorably to the selection of the design.
“Someday, we are going to have our own Iwo Jima scene, where we plant the @ProLifeFlag at what used to be the last abortion facility in America!” he remarked.
Someday, we are going to have our own Iwo Jima scene, where we plant the @ProLifeFlag at what used to be the last abortion facility in America!https://t.co/qxG7ZZx2mm
— Michael New (@Michael_J_New) July 24, 2021
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
