Spanish LGBTQ+ Activists Use Football Shirts to Fight Russia’s Homophobic Laws

As Pride Month continues in many countries around the world, the rainbow flag has been out in force as a globally recognised symbol that LGBTQ+ people can use to express pride in their identities.

But 40 years since Gilbert Baker designed the six-coloured flag, homosexuality is still illegal in many countries, as is the flag, labelled by these regimes as “gay propaganda”.

Russia, currently the focus of the footballing world’s attention as we hurtle towards the final of the World Cup, is one of these countries. 

FELGTB (the Spanish State Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Transgender and Bisexual people) teamed up with creative agency LOLA MullenLowe to take advantage of the international focus on Russia as a chance to denounce this law and take the rainbow flag to the streets where it's outlawed. While Pride flags flew elsewhere in the world, they created 'The Hidden Flag' to bring the rainbow to Russia.

As a statement on the Hidden Flag website announced: “Yes, in the plain light of day, in front of the Russian authorities, Russian society and the whole world, we wave the flag with pride.”

To get round the law, they used football shirts of six different colours, sported by six LGBTQ+ activists. Spain, The Netherlands, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia kits combined to form the flag that toured around iconic sites in Russia, traveling to every corner to fight against a struggle that will never be silenced.