In 1935, the already discriminatory provision of the German criminal code 175 StGB, which criminalised males who had relationships with each other, and included other groups who in the Nazi’s eyes were ‘male’ sexual offenders which included trans women, was changed from a minor offence to a felony, giving the Gestapo, without legal recourse, the power to detain and transport suspected Gay men and Trans women to concentration camps,  forcing them to wear pink triangles to identify them from other inmates. Although the total number of Gay men, Bi-sexual, Trans Women, and Lesbians (lesbians and female bisexuals, were forced to wear black triangles) sent to camps is not known, it is estimated that over 25,000 gay men and trans women were arrested and imprisoned under this law between 1937 and 1939, where the majority were murdered and their bodies disposed of in camp crematoria.

In the 1970s, queer liberation advocates began to reclaim the symbol and by the 1980s, it was widely used by groups like ACT-UP and it continues to be used as a symbol of activism and defiance for the LGBTQI+ community.   

 In 2025, a pink triangle within a red crossed circle was used by the Trump regime, to once again use it as a symbol of hate and discrimination.