'The rainbow flag has become the symbol of Gay and Lesbian pride and I have been proud to wear it on my clothing, march behind it in parades, and hand it from my balcony. the flag was received on behalf of the LA&M by the Men of Discipline. Leather 1999 when Tony Presented one of three original Leather Pride Flags which he assembled as a prototype to the Leather Archives & Museum. Deconstructions and re-compositions of the flag's familiar black, blue and white stripes with a red accent-originally a heart-are common, but the design itself was accepted worldwide as introduced. The design was immediately embraced and began appearing in parades within a month of its introduction, and turned up in shops as a bumper sticker barely two months later. As the creator of the flag, he was often asked to explain the colors and design, but consistently refused to do so, insisting that each person could do that for himself. The most widely celebrated of Tony DeBlase's achievements in the world of leather is and probably always will be the Leather Pride Flag which he presented to the world as a 'proposed design idea' on May 28, 1989, at International Mr.