Disability Pride Month: what it is and why it exists

Disability Pride Month takes place every July. It’s a time to recognise the history, achievements, and identities of disabled people, and to reflect on how society understands and responds to disability. While the month began in the United States, it’s increasingly marked in the UK, with conversations, events, and celebrations growing year by year.

The first Disability Pride event was held in Boston in 1990, shortly after the Americans with Disabilities Act became law. That legislation, a major civil rights breakthrough aimed to improve access and challenge discrimination. In the years since, Pride events have spread across the US and beyond. In the UK, cities like Belfast and Brighton have hosted their own Disability Pride parades, and many organisations now mark the month by platforming disabled voices, sharing stories, and reflecting on progress and ongoing barriers.

The focus of Disability Pride isn’t on awareness or charity, it’s about identity, visibility, and culture. It challenges the idea that disability is something to be ashamed of or hidden. Instead, it reflects the reality that disability is a normal part of human diversity. People live with disability in every part of life as workers, artists, parents, carers, campaigners and Disability Pride recognises this as something worth seeing, valuing, and naming.

The Disability Pride Flag is one of the most recognisable symbols of the month. Designed by UK writer Ann Magill, who has cerebral palsy, it features a charcoal background with five coloured stripes in a diagonal band. Each stripe represents a different aspect of the disabled community:

• Red – physical disabilities

• Gold – neurodiversity

• White – invisible or undiagnosed conditions

• Blue – mental health conditions

• Green – sensory disabilities

The charcoal background represents both mourning for lives lost to ableism and the barriers that disabled people continue to face. The diagonal design symbolises how those barriers are navigated and moved through.

More than 16 million people in the UK are disabled around one in four. Yet many still experience stigma, inaccessibility, and structural inequality. Disability Pride Month doesn’t offer easy solutions, but it does create space to reflect on these realities. It also offers a chance to share disabled people’s experiences in their own words, to celebrate community and connection, and to think about how history, policy and personal experience shape what disability means today.