On June 22, more than 5,000 people gathered in Mexico City’s Zócalo Square to form what is perhaps the largest rainbow flag in the world—at least the largest human rainbow flag.
The crowd stood in rows dressed in the six colors of the flag (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple) with matching umbrellas and performed coordinated moves set to the song “A quién le importa” (“Who Cares?”) by Alaska y Dinarama. Participants filled an area of 787 feet by 787 feet, totalling over 619,000 square feet. For perspective, that’s over 10 football fields or over 14 acres.
The two-hour choreographed event—which took place in the rain—was organized by the Mexico City government. The city’s mayor was one of the 5,000 participants. “Mexico City is and will continue to be the city of rights and freedoms. This monumental image we draw with our bodies and colors will be a powerful message to the country and the world,” said mayor Clara Brugada. “Mexico City is the capital of pride, diversity, peace, and transformation.”
Mexico City became the first city in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage in 2010, ahead of the rest of the country which didn’t pass marriage equality until 2022.
Giant rainbow flags are popular around the world, but human rainbow flags are less common. Gilbert Baker, the creator of the original LGBTQ+ rainbow flag, designed a mile-long version in 1994 for the Stonewall 25th anniversary celebration in New York City. It was recognized as the world’s longest flag at the time, earning it a Guinness World Record. Baker also created a flag that spanned over a mile in Key West from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean in 2003 for the 25th anniversary of the flag.
While Mexico City’s “human flag” was not as large as Baker’s, the activists claim to have formed the “world’s largest human LGBTQ+ flag” and it looks like they may have done just that.