The colors of the rainbow spread, leaping from building to building and city to city, first across Germany and then out into Europe.
On Wednesday evening, what might have been a lone statement — a single message of love and defiance — turned into a bright and silent chorus.
That night, Germany was scheduled to host Hungary in Munich for a crucial game in this summer’s European soccer championship.
City officials had asked UEFA, the competition’s organizer, for permission to light the stadium — the Fussball-Arena Munich, more commonly known as Allianz Arena, in the rainbow colors of the Pride flag.