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Awareness ribbons are short pieces of ribbon folded into a loop, or representations thereof. They are used in the United States as a way for the wearer to make a subtle statement of support for a cause or issue. Some ribbons (such as the red HIV/AIDS ribbon) have also received broader international recognition.

Such ribbons are pinned on a person's lapel or other part of clothing, or tied around an object, or represented on a sticker or magnet, often displayed on a vehicle.

Perhaps the earliest use of awareness ribbons, a use that predates that phrase, is the yellow ribbon popularized in American music by songs that American Folklife Center research dates back to at least 1917, in a song by George A. Norton called "Round Her Neck She Wears a Yeller Ribbon (For her Lover Who Is Fur, Fur Away)." More recent high-profile examples include She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (a 1949 film starring John Wayne and Joanne Dru) and the 1972 song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" made famous by Tony Orlando and Dawn in the 1970s.

Awareness ribbons serve similar purposes to the more recently introduced custom of wearing silicone wristbands, such as the Livestrong wristband.

Some have criticized the proliferation of 'Awareness Ribbons' as a form of slacktivism, i.e. allowing people to 'show support' without making an effort in time or money.

List of awareness ribbons

The meaning behind the awareness ribbon depends on its color. Many groups have adopted ribbons as symbols of support or awareness, and as a result, many causes often share each color. Some causes also seem to be represented by more than one color (for example, substance abuse uses both the red and the teal ribbon, roadway worker safety uses both the orange and the green ribbon, and Alzheimer's disease uses both the purple and the white ribbon). The following is a partial list of the different colors and their associated causes:

Yellow (yellow ribbon): cancer (particularly bladder cancer and testicular cancer), liver disease and liver cancer, missing person and missing children ("amber alert"), deployed soldiers ("support our troops", POW/MIA, Gulf War), equality, endometriosis, teen suicide, suicide prevention, spina bifida (pale yellow), adoptive parents, sarcoma, hydrocephalus or hydrocephaly, hope, come home, sarcoma (yellow with sunflower)

Black (black ribbon): in memoriam / mourning / melanoma, anti-gang, anti-terrorism in Spain, POW-MIAs, Amish support, Supporting the fight against Natural Causes
, Anarchy, Suicide

Cream: spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)

Blue (blue ribbon): drunk driving, education, anti-tobacco, anti-second hand smoke, North Korean abductions of Japanese, freedom of speech

Dark Blue: child abuse prevention, colon cancer, water quality, crime victim rights, arthritis, hystiocytosis, domestic violence, water safety (flooding, drowning, and accidents), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), interstitial cystitis, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), Reye's syndrome, short bowel syndrome, myositis, leukodystrophy, hurricane support, police officers lost in the line of duty ("The Thin Blue Line")

Light Blue: prostate cancer, Edward's syndrome, scleroderma, Graves-Basedow Disease, Pro Choice, Thyroid Disease, lymphedema, trisomy 18

Brown: colorectal cancer, anti-tobacco

Gold: childhood cancer

Gray: diabetes, brain cancer/brain tumors, asthma and allergies, Aphasia, generic ("Support A Cause")

Green: health, ecology/environment, organ & tissue donor, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer, missing children, open records for adoptees, leukemia, depression (both adults and children), safe driving, bipolar disorder, mental health or illness, eye injuries, bone marrow transplants and donation, roadway construction worker and driving safety, glaucoma, kidney cancer or kidney disease, neural tube defects, mitochondrial disease, brain injury, growth and rebuilding, cerebral palsy

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Awareness ribbon".

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