Pride Toronto has just unveiled their new logo, and while many are praising the change, it's also drawn critique from some members of the community.

The new logo takes on the same basic concept as the original one, a flower-like pinwheel over the 'i' in Pride, representing the various colours of the traditional rainbow flag. But, it now includes additional colours meant to represent additional communities under the LGBTQ+ umbrella.

Pride Toronto refreshed logo features the inclusion of progressive colours, symbolizing our commitment to diversity & progression within our community. "Our logo is/ a reflection of our values & our dedication to inclusivity,” -Kojo Modeste, Executive Director at Pride Toronto. pic.twitter.com/tbdTgOZVst

— Pride Toronto (@PrideToronto) March 21, 2024

Black, brown, pink, baby blue and white were all added, to represent Black Queer People, Queer People of Colour, Traditional Feminine colour, Traditional Masculine colour, and transitioning, neutral, undefined gender, respectively.

The black and brown petals are also meant to represent "community members lost to HIV/AIDS, and those currently living with AIDS," reads Pride Toronto's Facebook post unveiling the rebrand.

We’ve just revealed our new Pride Toronto logo in a short video presentation posted one hour ago. Look for it, on our profile page.
This refreshed logo, with an 11 colour pinwheel, reflects colours found on the Progressive Pride Flag. Above are the meanings behind those colours. pic.twitter.com/3ZTsRLBQFV

— Pride Toronto (@PrideToronto) March 21, 2024

Despite the evident best efforts of Pride Toronto to adapt to current attitudes and optics within the community (the new logo was designed consulting Daniel Quasar's Progressive Flag), not everyone is too pleased with the change.

"I like the original flag, it encompassed all of us," one person wrote in the comments of the post, noting that the previous flag didn't identify specific identities, but rather the ideals (Life, Healing, Sunlight, Nature, Serenity and Spirit) that govern the pride movement.

Others called out the decision to lump community members living with and lost to HIV/AIDS within the same two colours as Black and POC Queer People.

"I would [...] be curious to understand the reasoning behind why you lumped HIV into the section intended for Black and Brown people?" one person commented. "As if HIV doesn't impact across all of the diversity in our community."

To this, Pride Toronto explained that the combination of community members with HIV with Black and POC Queer People stems from the re-designed Progressive Pride Flag, from which the logo drew inspiration.

Despite the criticism, many members were quick to flood the comments with messages of excitement and affirmation of the new logo.

"I love it," one person wrote. "I was wondering when this logo was going to be updated."

"Can't say I really vibe with the flag in terms of how appealing and aesthetic it looks in terms of colours, but the acknowledgement and the meaning is very thoughtful, at least," another person said.

Others, still, praised the choice to highlight BIPOC members of the Queer community, who have historically laid the groundwork for the Pride movement, within the logo.

Pride Toronto is holding strong in their choice to reflect the Progressive Pride Flag colours in its new logo, and as comments continue to surface about the change, the positive ones are beginning to outweigh the critical.

This isn't the first time Pride Toronto has been embroiled in some kind of controversy — back in 2020, the organization responded to accusations of misuse of funds just days after former executive director Olivia Nuamah resigned from her role.

Pride Toronto is currently in the process of paying back $500,000 in grant funding to the federal department of Canadian heritage after failing to provide documentation of its expenditures.