Have a cause? Get a ribbon.
You may be leading the charge against murder, mayhem and deadly disease, but if it's not color-coordinated, it's invisible.
Ribbons of many hues, most perceptible on the lapels and bosoms of politically correct celebrities on televised awards programs, are high concept, tasteful and to the point.
One hitch: What is the point?
"I think it's getting very confusing to people," says Andrew A. Barasda, executive director of the Health Education Resource Organization (HERO) in Baltimore, where simple red ribbons are available free for the asking.
Red ribbons are synonymous with AIDS awareness -- except when Mothers Against Drunk Driving tie them on car antennae.
The color purple represents the toll urban violence takes on black youth -- except when it speaks for the Michigan chapter of the National Association for the Education of Young Children or the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
But purple ribbons worn in protest of battered women are not to be confused with white ribbons, worn on college campuses to protest all violence against women.
A pink ribbon signifies the battle against breast cancer -- so far.
Thank you very much, Tony Orlando, for tying that yellow ribbon "Round the Ole Oak Tree" in 1973. Americans, starved for unifying symbols that rise above the cacophony of national discourse, will never escape your Gordian knot.
It all started with that infamous yellow ribbon of musical yore, which became a symbol of liberty during the Iranian hostage crisis. The ribbon, (withstanding an unsuccessful challenge by bright orange), was revived during the Persian Gulf war as a satin show of solidarity.
Soon afterward, the ribbon was brilliantly co-opted in 1991 by Visual AIDS, a non-profit coalition of New York artists and art professionals who conceived of the simple red loop as a way to solidify and strengthen the struggle against HIV.
As a creation of the Ribbon Project, the red ribbon debuted nationally on the 1991 Tony Awards show, viewed by millions. The understated little symbol generated an instant cachet. Soon, it became an indispensable accessory on network and cable awards programs, a phenomenon that John Weir scathingly dismissed as "evening gown activism" in the Advocate, a national gay publication.
