It is claimed all rainbows are circular, but we can only see half a rainbow from the ground. You can view circular rainbows from high altitudes, most commonly, in a plane as shown in the photo on the right taken by Anna Kim in Hana, Maui, Hawaii, US.
The Safe Space Alliance logo incorporates a circular rainbow. The rainbow acts as a barrier to violence, bullying, and hate speech towards LGBTQI+ communities, creating a safe space in the middle.
The circular rainbow represents:
One of our values, “Always proud”: pride is often seen as a short-lived festival during the year, like a rainbow with a clear start and end point. The Safe Space Alliance sees pride as something to celebrate all year round, like a circular rainbow with no start or end point.
Acknowledging the whole person: rainbows are more than the half circles we often see and are actually full circles which may be seen from high altitudes. This reminds us to consider the whole person during our interactions including what we can’t see.
Collaborating globally: the circular form imitates the circular form of our planet, referring to the international reach/scope of the Safe Space Alliance and safe space community.
The use of pink
The word “Safe” in our logo is pink representing the pink triangle often used by the LGBTQI+ community as a symbol of pride, solidarity, and resistance. The pink triangle was used in Nazi concentration camps to identify homosexual men, then reclaimed in the 1970’s as a symbol of pride.
You can read more about the history of the pink triangle in this Time article.