Black ribbon
Encyclopedia
Awareness ribbon
Awareness ribbons, due to their ubiquitous nature, have come to symbolize various concerns depending on the colours or the patterns used. For example, black ribbons may be used for mourning....
s, is worn or displayed as a political
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
statement.
The ribbon has been used in a variety of manners:
- 9/11 - This ribbon is a sign of mourning for those killed in the September 11th attack.
- Melanoma Awareness - To bring awareness to melanoma and worn by people who know someone or are themselves affected by melanoma.
- In New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, a black ribbon was worn by family members after the deaths of 29 trapped miners who died in an explosion on 25/11/2010. - In PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, a black ribbon was worn by mourners of the death of the Polish president Lech KaczyńskiLech KaczynskiLech Aleksander Kaczyński was Polish lawyer and politician who served as the President of Poland from 2005 until 2010 and as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 22 December 2005. Before he became a president, he was also a member of the party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość...
, his wife and 95 other important senior officials on 10/04/2010. - In ArgentinaArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, a black ribbon, sometimes with the national flagFlag of ArgentinaThe national flag of Argentina is a triband, composed of three equally wide horizontal bands coloured light blue, white and light blue. There are multiple interpretations on the reasons for those colors...
's colours in both ends, is used to raise awareness about the victims of subversive terrorismGuerrilla warfareGuerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
. - In the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
after the death of Diana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of WalesDiana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
in 1997. - By the Anarchist Black Ribbon Campaign, a free speech campaign started in 1996 inspired by the Blue Ribbon Online Free Speech CampaignBlue Ribbon Online Free Speech CampaignThe Blue Ribbon Online Free Speech Campaign is an online advocacy campaign for intellectual freedom on the Internet, orchestrated by the Electronic Frontier Foundation . Web site owners are encouraged to place images of blue ribbons on their sites and link to EFF's campaign...
. - The blackBlackBlack is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
ribbon has again made an appearance shortly after a category 5 Hurricane KatrinaHurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
landed on the Gulf of MexicoGulf of MexicoThe Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...
area in September 2005. New Orleans was destroyed and many cities in the Mississippi Gulf Coast area obliterated. - The black ribbon was a symbol of popular griefGriefGrief is a multi-faceted response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something to which a bond was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, and philosophical dimensions...
in SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
after the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks. It was worn on clothing and also pinned on the Spanish flagFlag of SpainThe flag of Spain , as it is defined in the Spanish Constitution of 1978, consists of three horizontal stripes: red, yellow and red, the yellow stripe being twice the size of each red stripe...
(notably by politicians during the campaign for the 2004 legislative electionSpanish legislative election, 2004Legislative elections were held in Spain on 14 March 2004. At stake were all 350 seats in the lower house of the Cortes Generales, the Congress of Deputies, and 208 seats in upper house, the Senate. The governing People's Party was led into the campaign by Mariano Rajoy, successor to outgoing...
, taking place at the same time). - After the 7 July 2005 London bombings7 July 2005 London bombingsThe 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of co-ordinated suicide attacks in the United Kingdom, targeting civilians using London's public transport system during the morning rush hour....
, GoogleGoogleGoogle Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
displayed a black ribbon as a mark of respect and sympathy. Google also displayed a black ribbon on their website to support the Hurricane KatrinaHurricane KatrinaHurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
relief effort in September 2005, again on 29 August 2010, and again on 11 September 2011 in remembrance of the September 11 attacks ten years prior. - MetalHeavy metal musicHeavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
fans use black ribbons to remember Dimebag DarrellDimebag DarrellDarrell Lance Abbott , also known as Diamond Darrell and Dimebag Darrell, was an American guitarist. He was best known as a founding member of the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan. Abbott also contributed to the album Rebel Meets Rebel, a collaboration between Pantera and David Allan Coe...
, who was murdered on stage on December 8, 2004. - After the earthquake on August 15, 2007 in Peru2007 Peru earthquakeThe 2007 Peru earthquake was an earthquake measuring 8.0 on the moment magnitude scale that hit the central coast of Peru on Wednesday, August 15, 2007; it occurred at 23:40:57 UTC and lasted for about three minutes...
, black ribbons were the icons of all Peruvian television channels for 3 days - After the death of Heath LedgerHeath LedgerHeath Andrew Ledger was an Australian television and film actor. After performing roles in Australian television and film during the 1990s, Ledger moved to the United States in 1998 to develop his film career...
in January 2008, Warner Brothers placed a black ribbon on their marketing website www.whysoserious.com for The Dark KnightThe Dark Knight (film)The Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is part of Nolan's Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins...
in his memory. - The black ribbon has been also used by the journalists in the PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
to condemn the killings of journalists on the Maguindanao massacreMaguindanao massacreThe Maguindanao massacre, also known as the Ampatuan massacre after the town where the mass graves were found, occurred on the morning of November 23, 2009, in the town of Ampatuan in Maguindanao province, on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines...
. - During the 6th International Israeli Apartheid WeekIsraeli Apartheid WeekIsraeli Apartheid Week is an annual series of university lectures and rallies held in February or March. According to the organisation "[t]he aim of IAW is to educate people about the nature of Israel as an apartheid system and to build Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaigns as part of a...
(IAW) the black ribbon was worn worldwide to show support and promote awareness of the Palestinian struggle. - After the death of the Argentine actress Romina YanRomina YanRomina Yankelevich , better known as Romina Yan, was an Argentine actress, screenwriter, singer and dancer. She made her television debut in the program Jugate Conmigo, which followed up with the internationally successful series Chiquititas, created by her mother Cris Morena...
the black ribbon was worn once more worldwide and was shown in several websites. - The Black Ribbon was worn after the death of Mbah MaridjanMbah MaridjanMas Penewu Surakso Hargo, better known as Mbah Maridjan was the spiritual guardian or "gatekeeper" of the Indonesian volcano Mount Merapi...
for his braveness staying in erupted Merapi Volcano in Indonesia. - In Northern Ireland, Bloody Sunday 1972 - to remember the murders and attempted murders of civilians at the peak of The Troubles.
- In India, 2011 to show support to Anna HazareAnna HazareKisan Baburao Hazare , popularly known as Anna Hazare is an Indian social activist and a prominent leader in the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement, using nonviolent methods following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi...
who was fasting until death to fight against corruption by government.
Black ribbons in fiction
- In the DiscworldDiscworldDiscworld is a comic fantasy book series by English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or at least take inspiration from, J. R. R....
novels by Terry PratchettTerry PratchettSir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE is an English novelist, known for his frequently comical work in the fantasy genre. He is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels...
, the black ribbon is worn by vampireVampireVampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
s to show that they have sworn never to drink blood again.