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yellow ribbons
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081207220035im_/http://www.loc.gov/folklife/images/box-top-215.gif) |
![yellow ribbon](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081207220035im_/http://www.loc.gov/folklife/images/yelrib-180.jpg)
The yellow ribbon that Penne Laingen tied
around her oak tree in 1979, when her husband, Bruce Laingen,
was among those taken hostage in Iran. The Laingens donated the
ribbon to the Library in 1991. American Folklife Center Collection. Select the photograph for a larger image.
Photo by David Taylor. |
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![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20081207220035im_/http://www.loc.gov/folklife/images/box-bottom-215.gif) |
The New Yellow Ribbon Tradition
Wearing and otherwise displaying ribbons of various colors to remember
loved ones far away or to identify with a particular cause is a contemporary
custom that has roots in both popular culture and folk tradition. These
origins are explored in two articles by the late Gerald E. Parsons Jr.,
folklorist and reference librarian at the American Folklife Center. The
1981 article was written in response to many queries about displays of
ribbons during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979. Over a decade later, during
the Gulf War, these questions arose again, and gave rise to a second article.:
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