. >> reporter: for lynn segrablum, the rainbow flag is a deeply personal part of her own story. >> it like we thought this was going to be used for years. we were just trying to make something beautiful. >> reporter: you see, it was lynn, gilbert baker, and james mcnamara, she says, who created the design and vision for the original rainbow flag in san francisco back in 1978. >> the rainbow flag, the originals were hand dyed, hand sewn, in large buckets of dye, salt, soda ash, and warm water. and you're lifting and stirring and pulling the fabric for hours. and then it has to be rinsed and rerinsed and then it has to be dried and ironed. i wanted to be like an american flag because i love the american flag. >> reporter: at the one archives at usc, the largest collection of lgbt history in the world, lynn and documentarian glen mcilhiney reflected on the flag's first flight. >> approximately 40 x 60, weighed many, many pounds, it took about six people to carry each one. >> reporter: across the nation, 40 years later, after those first flags soared in san francisco, tyler wallic has bee