The Ribbon Becomes a Symbol
In 1979, the wife of a hostage who’d been taken in Iran was inspired by song to tie yellow ribbons around the trees in front of her house, symbolizing her desire to see her husband home again. Her message made the nightly news, and yellow ribbons began sprouting up across the country for soldiers fighting overseas.
11 years later, AIDS activists decided to create a symbol for those fighting their own battle here in America. They took that yellow ribbon and turned it red – “a color of passion” – looped it and pinned it to the chest of actor Jeremy Irons, who gave it its national debut at the Tony Awards.
Ribbons had arrived, and suddenly every charitable organization had one.
Why Pink?
The first use of the color pink for breast cancer awareness was by Susan G. Komen. In 1990, the organization began handing out pink visors to survivors running in the Race for the Cure. After Irons’ impactful appearance, Komen started giving pink ribbons to participants of the race. However, this was not the break out of the pink ribbon as an international symbol; it was simply a small detail of Komen’s race.
In 1991, 68-year-old Charlotte Haley started the pink ribbon movement in her own Simi Valley, Cal. dining room. As a call to action for the breast cancer epidemic, she handmade peach ribbons and pinned them to postcards to distribute. The postcards read, “The National Cancer Institute’s annual budget is $1.8 billion, and only 5 percent goes to cancer prevention. Help us wake up our legislators and America by wearing this ribbon.”
The initiative sparked interest in Alexandra Penney, editor in chief of Self magazine, who wished to adapt the idea for the 1992 National Breast Cancer Awareness Month issue. Haley rejected the offer when approached by Penney, claiming the company was too corporate and commercial for her. Unable to use the peach ribbon without Haley’s permission, but unwilling to let the idea go, Self magazine decided to go pink. Thus, the pink ribbon was born, becoming an international symbol for breast cancer awareness.
