Cancer Ribbon Colors

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Introduction To Color Ribbons And Cancer Ribbon Colors

Cancer ribbons, like poppies and rosettes, are small ribbons that people pin up on their clothes to exhibit their support for cancer or spread awareness regarding the same. There are many different colors of cancer ribbons and the color of the ribbons depends on the type of cancer that they are trying to create awareness for. There are around a dozen different types of colors of ribbons for as many different types of cancer. These causes range from leukemia and AIDS, to bladder cancer and breast cancer.

What Color Ribbon Stands For?

Initially, colored ribbons did not stand for cancer. It started out with red ribbons that represented support for AIDS as red is the color of passion. Then there was the yellow ribbon which in the United States was to show that a close relative was in the army and had gone for war. Black ribbons came to symbolize death in the family or of a close friend and also victory in war. These days it also stands to show a person’s stand against racism.

Different Cancer Ribbon Colors

Among cancer ribbons, the most common ribbon is the pink ribbon which stands for breast cancer. White ribbon stands for lung cancer though sometimes it is a pearl-colored ribbon that is used to represent the illness instead. Yellow ribbons stand for bone cancer though in some cases it stands for bladder cancer or anal cancer as well. But those illnesses are relatively rare and since bone cancer is more common, the yellow color as far as cancer ribbons are concerned has come to represent bone cancer. The blue ribbon is meant for prostrate cancer or colon cancer. For prostrate cancer, it is usually a lighter shade of blue while any blue works for colon cancer.

Kidney cancer support and awareness is usually represented by the orange color ribbon. But sometimes instead of orange, the green color is used to show solidarity for kidney cancer. Gray color ribbons are for brain cancer. But that is not as common as other cancer ribbons since gray ribbons usually stand for mental illness, asthma and diabetes. All kinds of gynecological cancers are usually represented by turquoise or teal color. These colors also stand for other sex related illness or illness that effect the sex organs. The only exception to the previous statement is testicular cancer which is represented by violet ribbon.

This is sometimes not the case though as the world famous cyclist Lance Armstrong who had testicular cancer used yellow wrist bands to create awareness for the illness. He started a cancer foundation and even wrote a couple of autobiographies that publicized the bands that were called Livestrong armbands. Since these were marketed by Nike, they really caught up and hence yellow has become more known around the world for cancer or testicular cancer.

General Cancer Ribbons And What A Ribbon Symbolize?

Any sort of cancer sustained during childhood is usually represented by gold ribbons. The Lavender ribbon usually stands for cancer awareness in general and stands for all colors.

The awareness ribbons as mentioned earlier are not just for cancer and stand for other things as well. Hence it is sometimes difficult to tell what a person is supporting when you see him where a ribbon on his shirt. But the ribbon has become a universal symbol as standing for a cause and hence you are letting people know that you believe in something or hope to spread awareness about something by pinning one to your shirt.