History of the Yellow Ribbon - Why to Tie a Yellow Ribbon?

The yellow ribbon is being unfurled quite prominently in America these days. It is seen tied around trees, on bumper stickers and before our eyes in all sorts of places. The yellow ribbons began appearing in large numbers after the Gulf War when large numbers of troops were being sent overseas to the Middle East. A yellow ribbon has many meanings, which are mostly associated with those waiting for the return of their loved ones or of military troops who are temporarily cannot come home. It is at times used at county and state fairs in the United States, where it indicates a fourth-place finish in a contest. Lately, it has been used to emblematize support for the International Suicide Prevention Program and to raise awareness against Testicular Cancer and for Madeleine McCann. It also connotes awareness for those women and girls who suffer from the disease of Endometriosis a painful debilitating disease that has yet to find a cure. There is an interesting history behind these yellow ribbon displays. For a long time ribbons have acted as a sign of remembrance of men and women who served and still serve in places far from home. Especially wives, mothers and sisters have kept them in times of war in memory of their soldiers who were afar. They are strong and passionate symbols of the ties that bind. It can also be seen on military medals that have ribbons attached to them. Young women in former times used to tie ribbons in their hair. They wore a ribbon in a pledge of faithfulness to their beloved. This way they would let the world know that they are set apart and not available for courtship. They are betrothed to someone, or waiting for someone special. At that present moment that person has gone away. He is in some distant land but he is with the girl in spirit and he will be back. Until that day of his return she will wait for him. He will occupy a special place in her heart. The girls would remember their beloveds with their display of the ribbon. Ribbons are significant in different traditions of the world. Gift tied with yellow ribbons are presented to the ones we love and ribbons are tied around those gifts to seal and consecrate them until the one to whom it is given can untie the ribbon. The ribbons are compelling symbols of devotion and of the ties that bind.

Yellow is also the official color of the cavalry branch of the U.S. Army and originally noticed in the yellow neckerchiefs worn in the 19th Century by cavalry soldiers. In the United States military, the yellow ribbon is used as a symbol in a popular marching song. The first version which was 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 Fur, Fur Away) and it is available in four hundred forms now. 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 changed and Russ Morgan titled the song She Wore a Yellow Ribbon for the 1949 movie of the same name. Several popular musicians of the 1940s, including Mitch Miller and The Andrews Sisters, performed it. The symbol became largely known in civilian life in the 1970s. It was the main theme of the popular song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree", Written by Irwin Levine and L. Russell Brown and recorded by Tony Orlando and Dawn among many others, as the assurance a released convict requested from his wife or lover, to indicate that she still wanted him and that he would therefore be welcome to return home. He would be able to see it from the bus driving by their house, and would stay on the bus if the yellow ribbon were not there.

Yellow ribbons can be seen in the paintings of English Civil War also. The soldiers of that time wore yellow sashes and yellow ribbons onto the battlefield. It also has significance in Singapore and Australia. In Singapore, an annual Yellow Ribbon campaign is conducted to promote giving ex-convicts a second chance in society. A person shows his support for ex-convicts by pinning a yellow ribbon on his shirt during this campaign. In Australia, the Save Albert Park group utilized the yellow ribbon as a weapon of protest. It is a coalition protesting the reclamation of public space in Albert Park, Melbourne for the annual Australian Grand Prix. The movement did not succeed but then the yellow ribbon made a place for itself for times to come in their history.