[DerDangDerDang]

Did anyone hear of this rainbow = NHS thing before the Queen’s speech?

I ask because surely most of the country knows the existing connection between the rainbow symbol and LGBT issues.

Like, areas of my city painted roads in rainbow colours several years running to show welcome and support.

I’m vaguely wondering whether the rainbow was deliberately hijacked, in the same way as the phrase ‘postcode lottery’ was repurposed by the right.

[RobertKerans]

Yes, they'd been in windows for a couple weeks before that in the UK. It's a nice thing for kids to make, with the original aim of being something to spot when being taken on walks. Kids like drawing rainbows, they get to use all the colours in the box. Loads of the rainbow pictures have extra messages written on them. NHS support messages are most common. Hence why they are partly associated to the NHS

People can do nice things, you don't need to attach conspiracy theories to them.

[DerDangDerDang]

It is nice. Thanks, I was genuinely curious - I hadn’t seen or heard of it before the Queen mentioned it. Rainbows seem a slightly naive choice in that case but if it’s an organic grass roots thing that’s pure chance, of course.

[RobertKerans]

If you don't have kids, and even then if {you|partner|other person involved in caring for kids} aren't on social media (afaik FB was where it gained traction initially, on parent groups, though it was already being reported on), then it was kinda easy to miss -- I didn't know about it when my partner said she was going to help daughter make one, and I think that was a week or so after started popping up (they'd already been appearing across Italy at that point, possibly Spain as well?)