What is the Significance of a Yellow Ribbon?
In the United States, a yellow ribbon is used as a symbol of solidarity with someone who is far from home, and an expression of hope that he or she will return safely and soon. Numerous unrelated causes have adopted the yellow ribbon as a symbol, somewhat blurring the symbolism of the yellow ribbon, but after the deployment of American troops to the Middle East in 2001, most Americans came to associate the yellow ribbon specifically with active duty members of the military, and supporting American troops. The history of the yellow ribbon is ancient. Several folktales and songs from England document the wearing of yellow ribbons by young women waiting for their lovers to come home, and the association of a yellow ribbon with waiting for a loved one appears to have been carried to North America with colonists. Several Civil War folksongs referenced the tradition, and a popular marching song from the First World War, “She Wore a Yellow Ribbon,” included a yellow ribbon as a prominent symb
