Afghans had simply assumed that the colour combination was the latest fashion fad in the west, and duly adopted it.
The rainbow stickers had first arrived on secondhand cars imported from Canada. For them it was just the newest car fashion accessory but, on learning of its meaning in the west, drivers immediately started removing it.
Needless to say, Pajhwok's reporter soon discovered that Afghans who had decorated their cars with the rainbow symbol had no idea what it stood for.
In a country where social conservatism sometimes results in gay men sharing their life with their partner of choice and an arranged wife so as to keep up appearances, there was certainly something very unusual about this apparently new openness. Even more remarkably, Afghan drivers seemed to have little concern about using their cars to openly advertise being gay and proud of it.
