# Lego Announces a Special Rainbow Set for LGBTQ Month **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 25, 2021, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873 "2021-05-25T13:14:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2021, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/1 "2021-05-25T13:14:39Z")
I’m surprised that I haven’t seen anything about this yet on the Board. Here it is: > **[Lego announces 1st rainbow set ahead of LGBTQ Pride month](https://www.today.com/popculture/lego-announces-1st-rainbow-set-ahead-lgbtq-pride-month-t219068)** > > This is the first time in 72 years where the beloved toy company is releasing an official LGBTQ Pride set. But the Engineer in me took one look at that and thought (no disrespect to anyone LGBTQ. Or to Lego, for that matter) “You’re not celebrating racial diversity. You’re celebrating the RMA Resistor Color Code:” > **[Resistor Color Code – HyperElectronic](https://hyperelectronic.net/wiki/resistor/resistor-color-code/)** > > The electronic color code is used to identify the values and tolerances of resistors. They generally consist of multiples band on a resistor. There is a 4, 5 and 6 band color code for resistors. This page will explain everything you need to know... > **[Resistor Color Codes - ElectroSchematics.com](https://www.electroschematics.com/resistor-color-codes/)** > > Why resistor color codes? Circular banded components are visible from all directions and angles while printed text is rarely visible and often requires magnification to read. [http://nearbus.net/wiki/index.php?title=File:Resistor\_color\_codes.jpg](http://nearbus.net/wiki/index.php?title=File:Resistor_color_codes.jpg) The colors are in exactly the same order as the ones used to designate the values of carbon film resistors, right down to starting with Black and Brown (in that order), going through the literal rainbow colors of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, then ignoring Indigo (as both the resistor color code AND the most common LGBTQ flags do) and going right to Violet. Even the next two colors – Light Blue and White – are close to the Resistor Code colors of Grey and White. Then it goes on to Pink, which has no corresponding version in the Resistor code. Was this coincidence? or was the designer an electronics hobbyist who used these colors as what he or she saw as the natural progression? ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2021, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/2 "2021-05-25T16:30:29Z")
The colors appear to match those of at least one LGBTIQ pride flag. > **[This Pride Flag Redesign Represents LGBTQ+ Diversity — And It's Going Viral](https://www.them.us/story/pride-flag-redesign)** > > Designer Daniel Quasar's Pride flag adds black and brown stripes to the rainbow, and includes the colors of the trans flag. The LEGO folk seem to have split the colors in the triangular portion to either side of the “rainbow” portion, probably in a fashion that looks aesthetically pleasing. I think the similarity to resistor color codes are coincidental, although I’ll admit it’s somewhat uncanny. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2021, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/3 "2021-05-25T20:08:00Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Was this coincidence? I’m pretty sure it was … not quite coincidence. More like convergent evolution? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2021, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/4 "2021-05-25T20:17:19Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > More like convergent evolution? I doubt that. Convergent evolution is caused by external forces driving things to find the same solution. But the colors not right in the rainbow could’ve been in any order in that set. That they were in the same order as the Resistor Code (with the same omission) suggests to me that the designer had that in mind, even if subconsciously. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2021, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/5 "2021-05-25T20:18:07Z")
I was thinking the same thing, although I wouldn’t exactly be shocked if there were significant overlap between “electronics hobbyist” and “lego set designer.” But it’s probably mostly just color theory - black and brown look better next to the warmer end of the spectrum, and light pink and blue at the colder end. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/6 "2021-05-25T20:26:08Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Convergent evolution is caused by external forces driving things to find the same solution. Yes - shared aesthetics is the driver. Similar ideas of what colours look good next to each other etc. Red-\>Brown-\>Black is a natural colour progression to me. The rainbow (minus indigo) is kind of a set order.The blue-white-pink makes for better contrast than either pink-\>blue-\>white, I think. Anyway, this is a Lego set, it doesn’t need to be built in that order (I’m probably going to go for the more common pink-\>blue-white order when I get it) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/7 "2021-05-25T20:32:26Z")
[There’s actually a whole thing about whether indigo is really in the rainbow or not.](https://handwovenmagazine.com/what-is-indigo/#:~:text=Today%2C%20the%20color%20%E2%80%9Cindigo%E2%80%9D,valuable%20commodity%20at%20the%20time.) > [@](#): > > Today, many color specialists advocate for removing indigo from the colors of the rainbow. They want to define it as: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. Today, the color “indigo” refers to a blue-purple color that many people can’t actually distinguish from blue or purple. Experts say that Newton only put indigo in the rainbow because he wanted seven colors, and indigo was an extremely valuable commodity at the time. Which, in terms of “convergent evolution”, probably explains why its not in the resistor code: it’s too easy to confuse with blue or purple. It’s worth noting that the original design for the Pride flag had eight stripes - it included both indigo, and a hot pink stripe next to the red stripe. The hot pink stripe was removed because it was hard to source enough fabric in that color. The indigo stripe was later dropped as part of a design decision for the '79 San Francisco Pride Parade - they wanted a flag with an even number of stripes, so they could put half the colors on one side of the route, and the other half of the colors on the other side. For whatever reason, that version of the flag stuck around. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2021, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/8 "2021-05-25T20:44:15Z")
I think that’s a pretty cool LEGO set. ---
**Author:** ![mikecurtis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikecurtis/32/3284_2.png) [@mikecurtis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mikecurtis)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2021, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/9 "2021-05-25T21:38:17Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > then ignoring Indigo (as both the resistor color code AND the most common LGBTQ flags do) and going right to Violet. To me, it looks like the Lego set has Indigo and not Violet, which is opposite of resistor code ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2021, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/10 "2021-05-25T21:50:03Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I think that’s a pretty cool LEGO set. Yeah, I must not be geeky enough. I looked at the picture and thought, “pretty! nice intention! maybe I need more lego.” ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2021, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/11 "2021-05-25T23:28:01Z")
I’ve already got my Unikitty ready to go on top. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2021, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/12 "2021-05-25T23:41:44Z")
Honestly, it looks like a boring Lego set to me; the flag background thing is just vertical columns of the same colors. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/13 "2021-05-26T00:17:44Z")
but, but… pretty colors of lego! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/14 "2021-05-26T01:01:46Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Honestly, it looks like a boring Lego set to me; the flag background thing is just vertical columns of the same colors. I find it creepy that they don’t have faces. **All** the other mini-figures have faces except the ghosts and given that it feels like a weird attempt at symbolism… ---
**Author:** ![Ynnad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4491bb/32.png) [@Ynnad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ynnad)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/15 "2021-05-26T01:23:31Z")
**B** ad **B** oys **R** avish **O** ur **Y** oung **G** irls **B** ut **V** iolet **G** ives **W** illingly. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/16 "2021-05-26T04:34:45Z")
I’m disappointed that the black figure isn’t a guy in full leather drag. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/17 "2021-05-26T05:45:18Z")
[Indigo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo) is a very dark blue, that stripe is the purple of [violet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violet_(color)). > [@panache45](#): > > I’m disappointed that the black figure isn’t a guy in full leather drag. Purple is intended to be a drag queen. With black I think they were going for a natural Black hair thing. But yes, a little Tom of Finland nod would be nice. Well, I can always put a sailor hat on the white one… ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/18 "2021-05-26T06:09:47Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > or was the designer an electronics hobbyist He was a fashion designer before he worked for Lego, so I’m going to guess not. He’s [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/matthew__ashton) if you want to ask him. ---
**Author:** ![Enjoy\_Slurm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enjoy_slurm/32/3937_2.png) [@Enjoy\_Slurm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enjoy_Slurm)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/19 "2021-05-26T06:22:56Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Purple is intended to be a drag queen. With black I think they were going for a natural Black hair thing. I like how all the hairstyles are very stereotypical so we know which one is which. Like the black one is obviosuly black. The purple one is obviously drag queen and the red one is obviously soulless. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873/20 "2021-05-26T06:23:46Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > [Indigo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigo) is a very dark blue, that stripe is the purple of [violet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violet_(color)). Which is another reason it doesn’t make much sense to be in the rainbow, as none of the colors are dark. The theory I’m more familiar with is that Newton used “indigo” to refer to a wavelength we’d generally call “blue,” and used “blue” for a wavelength we’d generally call “cyan.” And that how distinct the cyan band appears has a lot to do with whether or not people consider cyan and blue to be two completely different colors. Ultimately, the whole thing is a spectrum: there are no bands of any colors. A rainbow is just a gradient showing all the hues of light that humans can see. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lego-announces-a-special-rainbow-set-for-lgbtq-month/942873.md?page=2)