Deck Out Your Instagram Story With New Pride Stickers & Rainbow Hashtags

Instagram is making it easy (and fun!) for members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community to show their pride in honor of Pride Month. Like in years past, the tech company brought back its rainbow Instagram Story rings and hashtags — but there are some new treats for 2021 as well. With new Pride stickers for people who identify as trans, gender-fluid, non-conforming, or asexual, as well as a Pride shopping collection highlighting LGBTQ+-owned businesses, there’s plenty to explore. To make sure you don’t miss out, here’s how to get Pride features on Instagram this June.

Instagram users can brighten up their Stories and posts during Pride Month by taking advantage of some of the app’s new and returning Pride features. Once again, the tech giant is bringing back rainbow rings around users’ Stories. As a refresher, you can get a colorful ring around your Instagram Story when you use hashtags in your Story that have been identified by GLAAD and IG as "prominent" LGBTQ+ hashtags. Instagram updated its list of popular hashtags to include additional terms, such as #genderfluid, #pridefamily, and #gayvisibility, as well as terms used in years past: #pride, #lqbtq, #loveislove, #virtualpride, and #equality. Elite Daily reached out to Instagram for a full list of the Pride Month hashtags, but did not hear back at the time of publication. Once one of these hashtags is used in your Story, your Story ring will have a rainbow design for the 24 hours the photo or video is up, and the hashtag itself will appear in rainbow lettering. If you use the hashtags in a post on your grid, it will show up in rainbow lettering.

Instagram is also offering new Pride stickers in partnership with three LGBTQ+ illustrators, including some more inclusive options. For Pride 2021, users can expect to see new stickers for additional identities such as gender non-conforming, asexual, gender-fluid, and transgender. You can find them in the sticker tray in your Story when you search “Pride” or under “Featured.”

In addition to providing new tools to "rainbow-fy" your Stories and posts, Instagram is rolling out some new features to help you shop products from LGBTQ+-owned businesses. Using the Shop tab in the Instagram app, you’ll be able to browse #Pride collections that feature companies owned and supported by members of the LGBTQ+ community. In some cases, a portion of your purchase will go towards LGBTQ+ non-profits, such as Trans Lifeline.

These updated Pride features are available during the month of June, so don’t wait on brightening up your Instagram and showing your Pride both on- and offline.