unpopular opinion: rainbow flag

I dislike the "Philadelphia" pride flag (pictured at right) that is gaining popularity.  The rainbow flag has its own history, with different colors and numbers of stripes and meaning, and this new flag violates all of those ideas.

1. Literally.
   It's not a "rainbow flag" when it incorporates non-rainbow colors.  It breaks the metaphor.
    
2. Figuratively, inspiration-style.
   The very first flag attached hopeful and uplifting ideas to each color: life, healing, sunlight, nature, etc.  If yellow is sunlight, then black would be... darkness?  How is that uplifting?  Black and brown here are representations of skin color, not concepts. It breaks the metaphor.
    
3. Figuratively, sexuality-style.
   The rainbow flag as whole is about sex and sexuality: the sex roles we're expected to fulfill, the sex we're assigned or identify with, the self-inquiry that we have to perform within ourselves, the changing nature of our own acceptance of our sex and sexuality.  In this metaphor, though, what sexual orientation is "black"?  What sex is "brown"?  Again, it's a skin color here, not a concept.  It breaks the metaphor.

Also, historically speaking, black America has acted against the interests of GLBT people.  This flag suggests some new "woke" union that I don't think they signed up for either.  If they did, then that combined effort is a real game-changer for everyone.  I agree it's something to aspire to, but I don't think this flag represents either what or who it's intended to represent.

I do much better like the "Progress" pride flag (pictured at left) for this purpose.  It draws attention to the subset of our own community that are most neglected and needing our collective assistance.  Here, it is meaningful to add skin colors.  I approve both the purpose and the representation in this flag.

Even so, it has its detractors too, designers who dislike its growing complexity.  It risks turning into a LGBTQQIAAP+ smorgasbord of sprinkled additions that create a mishmash of incoherency in messaging.

We need a new symbol.  We need a cross-racial, cross-sexual, cross-everything symbolism that recognizes the holistic healing that needs to happen between internal psychology and external society.  The specifics don't really matter as much in that context.  It's all about recognizing dysphoria and embracing a more welcoming and multi-supportive future.

The U.S. Supreme Court has established religious primacy for some exemptions from civil society, so including a symbol with a religious history could prove beneficial within the USA.  In that light, I recommend starting with the 8-spoked dharma wheel.  It already calls attention to the need for things like mindful speech and action in order to "turn the wheel" of transformation.

I'm open to suggestions.