River of Pride Flag at Pride Portland! 2019

Image credit: Amanda Gagnon

We are happy to announce that a portion of the River of Pride flag has been registered and will be at the Pride Portland! parade this year.

It was everyone’s intention to have the flag in last year’s celebration. We understand how much work goes into managing the River of Pride flag and are moving forward in creating a more sustainable plan to avoid our missteps of last year and continue to have the flag in the parade when it is available to Portland. With the majority of the committee being new members we strive to learn from the past and continue to grow. Our Parade Chair requested the flag because the River of Pride was created to give spectators the opportunity to be a part of the parade and has become a meaningful finale to many.

A team of volunteers have stepped forward to be the custodians of the River of Pride flag, have registered it, and will be handling the flag, but they can’t do it on their own. Portland will march with a stunning 300 feet of newly-sewn sections before these sections join the rest of the River of Pride flag on its journey through New York City for Stonewall 50 and World Pride on Sunday June 30th.

The flag will require 15 official flag handlers who will sign up ahead of time and at least 150 spectators will be needed to help carry it during our celebration on June 15th. Those wishing to help with carrying the flag should contact parade@prideportland.org to be directed to the team.

We are all excited to have the flag infuse our streets again, particularly on this momentous fiftieth anniversary of Stonewall, and to watch it go on to other celebrations and continue to grow and flow through more communities.