Braddon's rainbow roundabout is getting a makeover that will see the iconic landmark better reflect the diversity of the LGBTQIA+ community.
The current rainbow mural at the intersection of Elouera and Lonsdale streets is being replaced with the more inclusive Progress Pride Flag.
It will feature the traditional rainbow colours but also include a white, pink and light blue chevron design to represent the trans community and black and brown chevron stripes to represent communities of colour.
Eleni Gabrielides, senior health promotion officer at Meridian, said the triangle shape that points right is a sign of progress "to show that we're always moving forward."
"When people see themselves represented within a flag - LGBTIQA+ people can spot a flag a mile away - and those kinds of symbols, make people feel safe and make people feel acknowledged," she said.
The original mural was painted in 2017 in celebration of the "yes" vote in the marriage equality postal survey, where Canberra recorded the higher support for same-sex marriage nationally.
Ms Gabrielides said it was "about time" the mural was updated.
"We all know that there are much broader parts of the LGBTIQA+ community which must be represented in terms of bills being passed and progress being made, specifically people of colour and also trans and gender diverse people make waves in this community," she said.
"It's about time that those sections and those portions and intersections of our community are being recognised with this updated flag."
This will be the landmark's first repaint since its installation in 2017. The $16,000 project is expected to take around a week to complete.
A spokesperson for the City Renewal Authority said the new design will be more inclusive while predominantly still featuring rainbow colours.
"The roundabout has become an enduring public symbol of Canberra's commitment to inclusion and diversity," the spokesperson said.
"However, it has become faded and damaged through general wear and tear over the past six years prompting a repainting of this popular mural."
The addition of trans, black and brown colours in the rainbow roundabout mural has been backed by the ministerial advisory council for LGBTIQ+ Affairs.
Council chair Sue Webeck said explicit inclusion for the progress pride flag was incredibly important.
"It is important to recognise people and the diversities that they do bring within ... what we colloquially termed the rainbow kind of umbrella," she said.
But she added that while the new design provided great representation, she wanted the ACT to go further.
"There are other visible activities that need to be undertaken in the territory to provide representation for LGBTIQA+ people in our community and certainly that recognition and celebration of the intersex community is part of that," she said.
"We encourage the ACT government to be looking at ways to celebrate all parts of the diversity of our community in the public landscape."
Ms Gabrielides welcomed the more inclusive design but said she also wanted to see more support for community and peer-led organisations.
She said in Canberra there was a lack of services for LGBTQIA+ people and the services that existed, like her organisation, were "very much overrun because there is a lot of demand".
"There are long wait lists and there are still many cost barriers in place for people to access services, in particular gender affirming services," she said.
She added that "discrimination and misunderstandings" still occurred within all services but particularly in health.
The roundabout in the heart of Braddon has been a beacon for political statements and the target of vandal attacks through the years.
In 2023, Canberrans were left frustrated after revellers used electric scooters to perform burnouts on the roundabout during that year's Summernats festival.
Ahead of the 2019 federal election, election corflutes for then Queensland senator Fraser Anning were erected on the roundabout.
It only took two hours for locals to remove the corflutes promoting the conservative politician.
