Flagworld Creates Showstopping Pride Flag with Thorne Harbour Health

Earlier in the year, Flagworld had the honour of creating a spectacular 30-metre Progress Pride Flag at the request of Thorne Harbour Health, an LGBTIQ+ health organisation. The flag was bound for the Midsumma Pride March, held annually in February in celebration of gender and sexual diversity. Over 40,000 people attend the march annually, including LGBTIQ+ community organisations like Thorne Harbour. 

Chiron Hooson, Events Coordinator at Thorne Harbour, told us they wanted to “go big” in celebration of the organisation’s 40th anniversary this year. Thorne Harbour have joined Midsumma Pride March every year except one (when the heat posed a health risk). As a service provider to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and intersex communities, they wanted to celebrate diversity at the 2023 Midsumma Pride March. 

“We wanted to be loud and be seen and show our communities that we represent them with pride. It was important to us that we stand in solidarity with other community organisations and show unity for our common causes.”

Thorne Harbour Health was formed in 1983 as the Victoria AIDS Action Committee and later became the Victorian AIDS Council. The organisation was initiated as a central part of the Victorian community response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and has continued to serve the health needs of LGBTIQ+ communities for 40 years. Thorne Harbour envisions a healthy future for sex, sexuality & gender diverse communities, where all people live with dignity and wellbeing.

For Thorne Harbour, the pride flag embodies the core values and principles that drive their work supporting LGBTIQ+ communities. They see the pride flag as “a powerful symbol of visibility and empowerment”. By displaying the flag loudly and proudly, they hope to show that everyone deserves to live without fear of discrimination, violence, or prejudice, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. It is particularly important to Thorne Harbour to use a progressive pride flag which includes the intersex, trans, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour), and rainbow colours. Inclusion of the intersex flag is unique to Australia, so they felt that this flag embodied their organisation as distinct from their international counterparts. 

In the leadup to the event, the team at Thorne Harbour had a huge vision that seemed difficult to fulfil. 

“We wanted our entire team to be involved and we struggled to find a flag that would be large enough for this event. It was difficult to get the measurements right. Not only did the flag need to be thirty metres long, but it also needed to be at least three metres wide. Through a lot of hard work, and with the help of Flagworld, we made the idea come to life.”

“[The flag] was a showstopper! We had people ducking under the flag and running down its length, creating many wonderful memories and pictures. We received a lot of media coverage, we brought our community together, and we had the most people ever marching at Midsumma with Thorne Harbour.” 

“We liked the idea of having a flag that everyone could hold and feel like they were part of the parade. The flag takes eighty people to carry and roughly two people per meter to keep it taught.”

Thorne Harbour Health needed Flagworld to accommodate their “crazy request for a gigantic flag”. 

“We had used Flagworld before for some smaller-scale events and found them to be super responsive with excellent customer service. Flagworld was invested in the pride flag idea from the outset and immediately committed to making the flag as big as possible. Flagworld took the time to talk through our ideas, sketch the design, and give us mock ups of the fabric. They produced several pieces that were then stitched together to create the final product. We are extremely happy with the result and excited to use the flag again.”

The flag will be used as a backdrop for Thorne Harbour Health’s 40th anniversary event, the Ruby Red Ball at Melbourne Town Hall. Many photos of this event will feature the incredible flag in the background.

More details on the event are available at https://thorneharbour.org/news-events/calendar-events/ruby-red-ball/ 

For more information about Thorne Harbour Health, visit https://thorneharbour.org/ 

If you've got big ideas you'd like to bring to life, Contact Flagworld today!