The design was presented at the International Mr. Leather event in Chicago, Illinois, on May 28, 1989. Initial reaction to the flag was mixed. According to DeBlase's article "A Leather Pride Flag", "Some, particularly on the east coast, reacted positively to the concept, but were quite concerned, some even offended, that I had not involved the community in helping to create the design." DeBlase gave this explanation of the design: "The flag is composed of nine horizontal stripes of equal width. From the top and from the bottom, the stripes alternate black and royal blue. The central stripe is white. In the upper left quadrant of the flag is a large red heart. I will leave it to the viewer to interpret the colors and symbols."