The practice of displaying Awareness Ribbons began long ago during war time, when relatives would display yellow ribbons to show that a loved one - a soldier - was far away. The yellow ribbon came to symbolize hope for the soldier's safe return.

Today, many causes promote their awareness by wearing or selling a particular color ribbon. Some causes have even become recognized nationwide because of their ribbons:

In 1985, red ribbons came to symbolize awareness of drug abuse, after an undercover Drug Enforcement Agent was murdered by members of a Mexican drug gang. Today, "Red Ribbon Week" is promoted in schools across the country every October.

In 1991, Visual AIDS in New York created the idea for a global symbol against AIDS, and chose a red ribbon as their symbol.

In 1992, Evelyn Lauder and Alexandra Penney of Estee Lauder Company launched what has become the universally recognized symbol of breast cancer awareness, the famous pink ribbon.

Regardless of color or cause, every ribbon represents the same thing: hope for the future. Why do some ribbons represent a large number of causes? There are just too many important causes and not enough different colors of ribbons to represent them. Don't worry that "another cause" uses the same color ribbon as you do since all ribbons represent hope for the future. YOU can decide which color goes with your cause. No matter which color you choose, your supporters will recognize the ribbon for what it really is - a symbol of hope and a statement of support for good cause.