Black ribbon

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Standard black ribbon

The black ribbon, like similar awareness ribbons, is worn or displayed as a political statement.

The ribbon has been used in a variety of manners:

Currently, Pakistanis across the world are wearing black ribbons and displaying it as their ID on the internet to protest against the Martial Law imposed by President Musharraf in Pakistan on the 3rd of November, 2007. In the city of Karachi, a group known as SOS- Subversive Operations Service is painting the city's walls with the symbol as a sign of resistance against the Martial Law and its resultant crackdown on political moderates and the country's intellgentsia.
By the Anarchist Blue Ribbon Campaign, a free speech campaign started in 1996 inspired by the Blue Ribbon Online Free Speech Campaign.^[1]^[2]
The black ribbon has again made an appearance shortly after a category 4 Hurricane Katrina landed on the Gulf of Mexico 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 grief in Spain after the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks. It was worn on clothing and also pinned on the Spanish flag (notably by politicians during the campaign for the 2004 legislative election, taking place at the same time).
After the 7 July 2005 London bombings, Google displayed a black ribbon as a mark of respect and sympathy. Google also displayed a black ribbon on their website to support the Hurricane Katrina relief effort in September 2005.
Metal fans use black ribbons to remember Dimebag Darrell, who was murdered on stage on December 8, 2004.
The black ribbon has been used as a symbol of melanoma awareness before its adoption to other things.
The image of a black ribbon with the Virginia Tech logo was used on the Internet in mourning and remembrance of the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre.^[3]
After the earthquake on August 15, 2007 in Peru, black ribbons were the icons of all Peruvian television channels for 3 days
After the death of Heath Ledger in January 2008, Warner Brothers placed a black ribbon on their marketing website www.whysoserious.com for The Dark Knight in his memory.