World AIDS day celebration is here with us again. But before we put the red ribbon in our feeds, let’s learn and be informed about how the symbol came to be, and trace back to its origin.
Awareness and sensitization come and happen in many ways, but it is better if it’s coded in a way that the world can recognize it unanimously, one generation after another. In many instances we honor awareness days and causes such as Cervical cancer awareness, Domestic violence awareness and breast cancer awareness with some symbolic ribbons in specific colors. But do we ever ponder to ask how the colored ribbon was chosen?
There are various colored ribbons used for different causes, like pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness, purple ribbons for domestic violence awareness and orange ribbons for Leukemia awareness. It’s important to note that a single-colored ribbon could be a symbol of different causes. Yellow ribbons, for example, is used in Endometriosis awareness, suicide awareness, in support of military forces amongst others. Red ribbons, besides being popularly used for AIDS awareness, is also used in heart disease awareness, substance abuse awareness and stroke awareness.
Back in 1991, when AIDS had been identified and the society was trying to find ways of creating more awareness, an artist called David O’Connel, who was dedicated to visiting HIV/AIDS patients in hospitals, attending AIDS victims’ funerals and responding to calls from people who panicked after knowing their status, decided to use art as a form of education and creating awareness about the scourge. They started the AIDS Visuals, a collection of art from different artists that conveyed the same message. Visual AIDS collective actively organized public shows and art fares during this period. They would create AIDS visuals, different pieces of art that sort to educate and inform about the pandemic at the time.
This lead to the realization that a visual symbol of AIDS representation would go a long way. During one of the meetings, an invited costume designer, Happel Marc, who had heard that the group was looking for a symbol of AIDS awareness, threw in some idea about how they could achieve this. It was during the Persian Gulf war. Yellow ribbons were hung on trees to symbolize the support and appreciation of the service men who took part in the war. He borrowed from this. He suggested a ribbon, that would not be hung on trees but instead pinned as lapels. The color was chosen to be red, the color of blood, and of course the color of love and passion, signifying love and anger at the same time.
Then another wild idea came, of having the ribbon worn during the Tony awards of 1991. A number of artists in the group knew celebrity clothing designers, they took it upon themselves to convince the designers to have some of the celebrities wear the ribbon on the red carpet. This prompted the design of fancy red ribbons that could be pinned on these attires for the red carpet. A few celebrities did. During this time, publicly speaking about AIDS was considered a taboo. No one was allowed to talk about it during the event, but the message was still delivered, that AIDS is here and awareness is going on. That there is a cause to act on, talk about and not to shy from, and it’s AIDS. The sighting of the red ribbon on the red carpet sparked conversations and news coverage the following day, with everyone wanting to know what it meant and what it was all about.
Soon, there were red ribbon merchandise all over. Everyone wanted a piece of it, in t-shirts, Christmas decors, gifts and clothing. The vision that the Visual AIDS group had come to be. Awareness! The media was soon talking about HIV/AIDS, and people sought to get more information about it.
The red ribbon was worn and adorned in later red-carpet events such as The Emmys and the Oscars. The White House set up an office of National AIDS Policy under Bill Clinton presidency. The New York times declared 1992 “The Year of The Ribbon”.
The group opted not to trademark the red ribbon that they created, despite the pressure to do so from some of its individuals. This was so that it could be adopted and used universally, in order to fully achieve its vision. And it has! The trend became ubiquitous, being adopted all over the world.
The spiral of events that followed towards the fight and awareness of AIDS were very significant. The fight against AIDS is still on, but we can’t deny the milestones and achievements noted in research, funding, education and low prevalence of deaths and new infections. All thanks to awareness actions. From a time when mentioning the word AIDS was a taboo to a time where people can sit down in a media platform and openly talk about it, from a time when many deaths were recorded to a time where infected individuals can bear children without the high risk of transmission.
Until today, the red ribbon stands strong as a symbol of AIDS during awareness period on every 1st of December.