The yellow ribbon is used for various symbolic purposes. It is often worn on one's person or tied around a tree in one's front yard.
Contents |
The custom of tying a yellow ribbon around a tree to symbolize waiting love seems to go back at least as far as the days of Nero. A recently unearthed villa (thought to be that of Nero's wife) in Pompeii and covered by the Mt Vesuvius eruption of AD 79 contains a mural depicting a man standing at a tree with a yellow ribbon tied 'round it. ref: "Pompeii: Back from the Dead" a 2011 documentary by Paul Elston & Steffan Boje at 2 minutes 47 seconds into the film.
The song/poem "She wore a yellow ribbon" has appeared in various forms for at least four centuries. It is based upon the same general theme: A woman of destiny is under some sort of test or trial as she waits for her beloved to return. Will she be true to him? This seems to be the lingering question and the basis for a great unfolding drama.
The song appears to have been brought to America from Europe by English settlers. The origin of the yellow ribbons seems likely to have come from out of the Puritan heritage. It was during the English Civil War that the Puritan Army of English Parliament wore yellow ribbons and yellow sashes onto the battlefield.
Yellow is the official color of the armor branch of the U.S. Army, used in insignia, etc., and depicted in Hollywood movies by the yellow neckerchief adorning latter-half 19th century, horse-mounted U.S. Cavalry soldiers. However, a review of the U.S. War Department's Regulations for the Uniform and Dress of the Army of the United States (1872, 1898) reveals that a neckerchief, of any color, was not an item required by dress code. Despite this, neckerchiefs were a popular accessory employed by cavalrymen to cope with the frequently dusty environs. The specific association of the yellow neckerchief with the U.S. Cavalry may have arisen from a work of popular American West artist Frederic Remington—Lieutenant Powhatan H. Clarke, Tenth Cavalry (1888).
In the United States military, the symbol of the yellow ribbon is used in a popular marching song. The first version copyrighted was the 1917 version by George A. Norton, which he titled 'Round Her Neck She Wears a Yeller Ribbon (For Her Lover Who Is Far, Far Away). While he tells in the song about the love between Susie Simpkins and her soldier lover Silas Hubbard, his chorus goes:
'Round her neck she wears a yeller ribbon,
She wears it in winter and the summer so they say,
If you ask her "Why the decoration?"
She'll say "It's fur my lover who is fur, fur away.
The lyrics were altered and the song was titled She Wore a Yellow Ribbon by Russ Morgan for the 1949 movie of the same name. This was performed by several popular musicians of the 1940s, including Mitch Miller and The Andrews Sisters. The Tanner Sisters recorded their version in London on December 30, 1949. It was released by EMI on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 9873.
The text of the Army version approximates the following, with local variations:
Around her hair she wore a yellow ribbon
She wore it in the springtime
In the merry month of May
And if you ask her why the heck she wore it
She wore it for her soldier who was far far awayFar away, far away
She wore it for her soldier
Who was far, far awayAround the block she pushed a baby carriage
She pushed it in the springtime
In the Merry month of May
And if you ask her why the heck she pushed it
She pushed it for her soldier who was far far awayFar away, far away
She pushed it for her soldier
Who was far, far awayBehind the door her daddy kept a shotgun
He kept it in the springtime
In the merry month of May
And if you ask him why the heck he kept it
He kept it for her soldier who was far far awayFar away, far away
He kept it for her soldier
Who was far, far awayOn the grave she laid the pretty flowers
She laid them in the springtime
In the merry month of May
And if you asked her why the heck she laid them
She laid them for her soldier who was far far awayFar away, far away
She laid them for her soldier
Who was far, far away
The symbol became widely known in civilian life in the 1970s. It was the central theme of the popular song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree", Written by Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown and recorded by Tony Orlando and Dawn (among many others), as the sign a released convict requested from his wife or lover to indicate that she would welcome him home. He would be able to see it from the bus driving by their house, and would stay on the bus in the absence of the ribbon. He turned out to be very welcome: there were a hundred yellow ribbons.
From the Library of Congress:
In Australia, the Save Albert Park group have utilized the yellow ribbon as a symbol of protest. The group is a coalition protesting the reclamation of public space in Albert Park, Melbourne for the annual Australian Grand Prix. When the race moved to Melbourne in 1996, yellow ribbons were tied around the trees in the park which were designated for removal. Although the group were unsuccessful in protecting the designated trees, they and their supporters still tie ribbons around the trees each year at the time of the race.
In 2009, the yellow ribbon was used during the appeal for those affected by the 2009 Victorian bushfires.
In Denmark the yellow ribbon has become the more or less official (though not directly officially endorsed by the countries' armed forces) symbol for support of troops in missions. In Sweden, Fredsbaskrarna [2] and Stiftelsen Jesper Lindbloms Minne [3] is promoting it as a troop-supporting symbol.
In Estonia the yellow ribbon was taken into use on 13 May 2011 after the President of Estonia, Mr Toomas Hendrik Ilves made the following announcement on Facebook: "The families of the seven Estonian citizens taken hostage in Lebanon need all of our support. Not intrusive nosiness but rather quiet and committed support that says: your concern is our concern, we hope and believe together with you. Today, to show this, I put a yellow ribbon on my lapel."[1] The seven Estonian citizens referred to by the President, were taken hostage on 23 March 2011 in eastern Lebanon during a cycling trip.[2] On 14 July 2011 it was announced that the hostages had been freed.[3] The yellow ribbon was worn in person, but also virtually on Facebook. For that, a specialised Facebook app was created for people to automatically be able to add a yellow ribbon to their profile pictures.[4] As of 14 July 2011, 12,671 people had added the yellow ribbon to their profile picture.
In Indonesia, yellow ribbon is used as a symbol to show solidarity and sympathy for the victims of the riots and chaos in Indonesia May 13–15, 1998, who were mostly Indonesian Chinese.[5][6]
Starting in August 2008 in the northern Israeli province of The Galil, yellow ribbons were tied to the left side mirrors of civilian cars as a symbol of the hope of the Israelis to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who was imprisoned in the Gaza strip by Hamas. Shalit was born and raised in the small village of Mizpe Hilla in the upper Galil.
Japan's Medal of Honor uses a yellow ribbon to acknowledge professionals who have become public role models.
In Malaysia, the yellow ribbon is used as a symbol of "Press Freedom".
In New Zealand, yellow ribbons are used for suicide awareness. New Zealand has one of the highest rates of youth suicide in the world. It is also being used as a symbol of solidarity and remembrance for the Pike River miners trapped and killed after the explosion in the mine on 19 November 2010.
In the Philippines, usage of the yellow ribbon first gained prominence in the 1980s during the Martial Law era as a symbol of opposition Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. In 1983, after 3 years of self-exile in the United States, Aquino flew back to the Philippines. Inspired by the song Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree by Tony Orlando and Dawn, his supporters tied yellow ribbons along the streets of Metro Manila to welcome him back, but he never saw them. As he stepped off the plane at the Manila Airport, Aquino was shot and killed, leading to a series of dramatic events over the next few years, culminating in the EDSA People Power Revolution of 1986 that overthrew Martial Law-era president Ferdinand Marcos. Yellow and yellow ribbons were the symbols of the anti-Marcos movement and of the woman who led it, Ninoy Aquino's wife, Corazon "Cory" C. Aquino. For instance, Mrs. Aquino would often appear in public wearing yellow dresses.
In 2009, yellow and the yellow ribbon reappeared, first as a sign of support to the now-former President Corazon Aquino as she struggled with cancer, and then as a sign of remembrance and respect when she died on August 1, 2009. People wore yellow shirts, tied yellow ribbons along the street, and integrated yellow and yellow ribbons into their blogs and Facebook pages.[7] Afterwards, it became the symbol of the attempt to draft Aquino's only son, Benigno Aquino III to run for the presidency in the May 2010 election, and then when he announced his candidacy, the symbol of his campaign.
On September 2010, wearing a yellow ribbon consisting of electrical tape around ones index finger signified support of the We Are One Filipino Movement. The first rally to welcome and support Philippine President Benigno Aquino, III was held in San Jose, California at Plaza de Cesar Chavez.
In Singapore, the government has initiated an annual Yellow Ribbon campaign, through the Yellow Ribbon Project, to promote giving ex-convicts a second chance in society. Typically, a person shows his support for ex-convicts by pinning a yellow ribbon on his shirt during the annual campaign held in September. This was probably influenced by its use as a symbol of acceptance in the song "Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree" as stated above.
During the Iran hostage crisis, the yellow ribbon was used a symbol of support for the hostages held at the U.S. embassy in Tehran.
In November 1979, a committee headed by Suzan E. Garrett of the Jaycees ladies service organization in Leitchfield, Kentucky organized a campaign to "Tie A Yellow Ribbon" around public trees as well as encouraging people to wear tied ribbons on lapels in support of the U.S. hostages being held in Iran. She was interviewed on ABC-TV by Ted Koppel on the newly created NIGHTLINE late-night news program and later by Peter Jennings for ABC World News Tonight.
This symbolism continued and gained further notoriety in December 1979, when Penelope Laingen, wife of the most senior foreign service officer being held hostage, tied a yellow ribbon around a tree on the lawn of her Maryland home. The ribbon primarily symbolized the resolve of the American people to win the hostages' safe release, and it featured prominently in the celebrations of their return home in January 1981.
The yellow ribbon saw renewed popularity in the United States during the Gulf War in the early 1990s. It appeared along with the slogan "support our troops", in the form of yellow ribbons tied to trees, and countless other contexts. It often had the implied meaning of supporting the Desert Shield and Desert Storm troop deployments themselves and/or loyalty to President George Bush, and therefore became somewhat politicizedCitation Needed. It appeared again during the 2003 Invasion of Iraq with similar meanings, most prominently in the form of a yellow ribbon printed on magnetized material and displayed on the outside of automobiles.
The yellow ribbon is also an emblem for suicide awareness. "The Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program is a community based program primarily developed to address youth/teen/young adult suicides (ages 10-25) through public awareness campaigns, education and training and by helping communities build capacity." The program began in September 1994 after the suicide of 17 year old Mike Emme.
Additionally, the yellow ribbon is the emblem color for endometriosis. Yellow ribbons are common for endometriosis sufferers/supporters and is a common color for fundraising products.
|
||||||||||||||||||||