We wanted to give people a way to show their support easily, openly, and proudly. And what better place to do this than on the very first thing people encounter on their Facebook pages: their profile pictures. That lead to the creation of Celebrate Pride — a simple tool people could use to visually show their love and support for this historic decision and join in on the celebration with the world.

Once it was clear the Supreme Court decision was coming, we sprinted over the next 72 hours to develop Celebrate Pride, ensuring it was ready for a global launch the minute the news broke.

On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court decision was made, and we were ready.

In just two days after the launch, 26 million people used Celebrate Pride to show their love and support. And in addition to Celebrate Pride, we designed digital posters that were used in online Pride guides to keep the momentum of the celebration going.

We designed Celebrate Pride so it was simple to use and easy to share. So in just two days after the launch, 26 million people used Celebrate Pride to show their love and support. And those 26 million photos alone garnered 500 million unique likes, comments, and shares. From that weekend on, the celebration kept growing around the world.

With 1.59 billion monthly active Facebook users at the time, this tool was a simple way for our entire community to join the celebration easily and effectively. And to make the tool as simple to access, use, and share as possible, we leveraged the power and social nature of the Facebook platform and designed the tool to spread completely organically. The main way people found the tool was through their newsfeeds; when a friend used the tool and shared it, it would show up on their friends’ Facebook feeds. From there, all their friends could easily use the tool, share it, and the process would continue. Our target audience was all Facebook users who wanted to join in and spread the love.

People have been fighting for marriage equality in America for decades, but in the past few years, the cause gained serious momentum. By June 2015, a Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage across the United States seemed inevitable. So as the court was deliberating, we wanted to give the world a way to celebrate the moment a ruling in favor of marriage equality happened.