The Story Behind Our Space Pride Collection
Sometimes people ask what my favorite STARtorialist design is, and the truth is that I could never pick just one (as evidenced by my closet). But I can safely say that the designs with collaborative stories behind them are definitely at the top of the list, and our new Space Pride flag collection is exactly that.
Space-image versions of pride flags have been floating around the Internet for several years, but not all images are available for commercial use, so we couldn't really design anything without a lot of licensing, which isn't always feasible for a small business like ours. But about a year ago, writer & designer Rachel Lense made this iconic progress pride version from NASA images, and it was even the most popular image ever shared on BlueSky a few months later! Somehow it wasn't on our radar until earlier in 2025, and by then the design and extensive accompanying scientific information were removed from the NASA website - all the more reason for us to step up as an independently incorporated business and fill the vacuum.
As always, we wanted to properly credit the designer and make sure the image was available for commercial use, but that wasn't as straightforward as it sometimes is for NASA images. It turns out the red stripe is photograph of "Jellyfish Sprites" by French sprite-chaser Nicolas Escurat, who had licensed it to NASA for use in the flag design. Rachel helped us get in touch with Nicolas to secure use permission for his contribution to the design.
Here are all the images that are part of the flag:
White: Cloud Vortices Above Heard Island Credit: NASA/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team
Pink: Colorful Auroras Over Utah Credit: NASA/Bill Dunford
Light Blue: Large Solar Flare Credit: NASA/SDO
Brown: Swirling Storms of Jupiter Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/MSSS/Brian Swift
Black: Hubble’s Ultra Deep Field Credit: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith (STScI), and the HUDF Team
Red: Jellyfish Sprites Credit Nicolas Escurat © 2022 (used with permission)
Orange: Mars’ Intrepid Crater Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University
Yellow: Geologic Map of Io Credit: NASA/USGS/Tammy Becker and Paul Geissler
Green: Algal Blooms in Clear Lake Credit: NASA Earth Observatory/Landsat 9/USGS/Wanmei Liang
Blue: Neptune’s Great Dark Spot Credit: NASA/JPL
Purple: Crab Nebula Composite Credit: NASA, ESA, and Allison Loll/Jeff Hester (Arizona State University); ESA/Herschel/PACS/MESS Key Programme Supernova Remnant Team
But that's not all! I was discussing the design with a wonderful colleague (who has also been enthusiastic supporter since we were a baby blog on tumblr), and she clarified that the original license of the Progress Pride Flag designed by Daniel Quasar required that derivative works maintain the same license, i.e. non-commercial use. Strictly interpreted, NASA's version wouldn't be available for commercial use. So, also, with Rachel's help, we reached out to Daniel Quasar xemself.
Honestly, as excited as I was about using the image, at each step I thought, "Well, that was a nice idea, but there is no chance we go any further." Each person had every right to say no, and there would no way I would compromise our values or try to circumvent their approval. But that seems to have been imposter syndrome talking, because every request was met with an enthusiastic yes! In these every darkening times, especially in the US, this design, and the support it has brought to STARtorialist and our space friends, has given me a glimmer of hope that grows every day.
So thank you, Gilbert Baker (designer of the original rainbow pride flag), Daniel Quaser, Rachel Lense, Nicolas Escurat, and to the thousands of NASA civil servants, staff, contractors, and even more fans who are working every day to make space for everyone.
A portion of the proceeds from our sales will be donated to the Trevor Project and the Choir Collaboration for mutual aid. If you would like to suggest another organization for our contributions (either merchandise or monetary), please get in touch!
We needed to make this design available to the space community, because we know that being safe and welcome as our full selves makes for better science and happier scientists.
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Image credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Rachel Lense, used with express permission from Daniel Quasar and Nicolas Escurat. No NASA collaboration or endorsement is explicit or implied.