Some time ago I added an awareness ribbon to the free sample cards on my Stitching Cards web site at the request of one of my customers. When I was designing the pattern I researched the background to these ribbons and found the history fascinating.
As far back as Shakespeare
The wearing of a coloured accessory as a symbol goes back as far as Shakespeare. He has Desdemona refer to an early version of the song “All round my hat, I wears a green willow” (Othello Act IV, scene 3). The song explains: “If anyone should ask, the reason why I wears it, tell them that my true love is far, far away”.
Ribbons become a symbol in the 1970s
Moving forward in time a yellow ribbon became the symbol for the wives of American hostages held in Iran in the 1970s. On a CBS broadcast, Penelope Laingen, wife of a hostage in Iran, was interviewed outside her home in Bethesda, Maryland. “It just came to me,” she said, “why don’t I tie a yellow ribbon around an old oak tree.” The idea caught on and when the American hostages returned home from Iran in 1981 they were welcomed by a multitude of yellow ribbons.
The hit song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon…”
The source of Penelope’s inspiration was a popular song called “Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree.” It was recorded by some thirty different vocalists in the late 1970s and sold millions of copies. The song is the story of a convict on a bus going home after three years in prison. He tells the bus driver that he has written to his sweetheart asking her to tie a yellow ribbon on a roadside oak tree if she will have him back. The driver relates the story to other passengers and as the bus nears the tree everyone is on the edge of their seats. The convict covers his eyes, unable to bear the possible rejection. Then a cheer goes up and he looks to see the tree covered with yellow ribbons.
A red ribbon for AIDS
In 1991 yellow ribbons were resurrected for soldiers fighting the Gulf War. AIDS activists looked at these and said “What about something for our boys dying here at home?” They chose a bright red ribbon because “it’s the color of passion”. Actor Jeremy Irons wore a looped red ribbon during the Tony awards and it caught the attention of the national press.
A pink ribbon for breast cancer
A few months later the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation handed out pink ribbons to participants in its New York City race for breast cancer survivors.
In 1992 a collaboration between Self magazine and the cosmetics giant Estée Lauder saw the launch of a pink ribbon as an international symbol for breast cancer awareness.
The year of the Ribbon
Awareness ribbons rapidly became a must have item for numerous charitable organisation and the New York Times declared 1992 as “The year of the Ribbon”.
Some other awareness ribbon colours are:
Black ribbon – POW-MIA remembrance
Blue ribbon – sex trafficking and slavery awareness
Brown ribbon – end chain email
Gold ribbon – childhood cancer awareness
Gray ribbon – diabetes awareness
Green ribbon – environmental protection
Indigo ribbon – targeted individuals
Orange Ribbon – animal protection awareness
Periwinkle ribbon – eating disorder awareness
Pink and blue ribbon – pro-life
Purple ribbon – domestic violence awareness
Silver ribbon – brain disorders
Teal ribbon – ovarian cancer
Violet ribbon – Hodgkin’s lymphoma
White ribbon – violence against woman
Related links:
The above list gives a few of the causes that use awareness ribbons. A longer list can be found on the Wikipedia web site.
The background to the yellow ribbon tradition can be found at the American Folk Law Centre web site.
A free prick and stitch awareness ribbon pattern is available from the Stitching Cards web site.
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