Disability Pride Month

Disability Pride Month is an annual celebration observed in the United States during the month of July to commemorate the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Signed into law on July 26, 1990, by U.S. Pres. George H.W. Bush, the landmark legislation provides civil rights protections to individuals with physical and mental disabilities and guarantees them equal opportunity in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and local government services, and telecommunications. Soon after the signing of the ADA, disability pride events began to occur; for example, the first official Disability Pride Day was in Boston in October 1990. Chicago hosted the first Disability Pride Parade in July 2004, and Disability Pride Month debuted in July 2015 in recognition of the 25th anniversary of the ADA.

Disability Pride Month goes beyond commemoration of the ADA, however, and recognizes and celebrates the advocacy and gains of the disability rights movement and the disability community’s culture, resilience, and unique identity.

Disability pride flag

The disability pride flag was created by author Ann Magill in 2019. Magill, who has cerebral palsy, conceived of the flag as a way to increase visibility for those celebrating disability pride events and show solidarity within the disability community.

Discover how ordinary objects work, and expand your understanding of the familiar.

SIGN UP

" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">

Thank you for signing up!"

Back to homepage

By clicking "Sign Up", you consent to the Britannica Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

The flag’s initial design featured zigzag stripes in blue, yellow, white, red, and green on a black background; the zigzags symbolized the barriers around which people with disabilities need to maneuver. Magill revised the flag in 2021 after it was found that some people with visual impairments, such as red-green color blindness, or visually triggered disabilities, such as seizures, had difficulty viewing the flag on a phone or other digital device. The resulting community-advised revision is shown below. Each element of the flag represents an aspect of the disability community’s makeup and experience:

• Overall stripe design: The action of cutting across barriers that separate disabled people from society as well as light and creativity cutting through darkness
• Red stripe: Physical disabilities
• Gold stripe: Neurodiversity
• White stripe: Invisible disabilities and disabilities that have not yet been diagnosed
• Blue stripe: Emotional and psychiatric disabilities, such as anxiety, depression, and mental disorders
• Green stripe: Sensory disabilities, such as auditory processing disorder, blindness, deafness, and lack of smell or taste
• Faded black background: Mourning for the victims and rage against the perpetrators of ableist abuse and violence