When I was a kid, streaking had already gone from being a cultural phenomenon, to just being one of those things that people do sometimes for attention. I figure that when someone like Barry Allen does it, it’s different. Let’s face it: he’s always been a bit boring as a character. He was created at the dawn of the Silver Age and his heroic death was the end of it, and heroes of that era were expected to be a bit dull. I mean: he was a police scientist by profession, before TV made that cool. He was married, he was responsible. So losing the scarlet body suit and going for a run faster than anyone can see would be a good chance for Barry to let his hair down and have fun.

So that’s the whole subtext. Just Barry out for a streak, the wind in his buzzcut hair. And a scarlet blur around him to hint at who he is when he’s in uniform.