Black Ribbon - Sign of Mourning

Sign of Mourning

Similar to a black armband, the black ribbon is a public display of grief. Individuals or organizations display the ribbon in commemoration of victims after specific incidents. Some examples have included:

  • 9/11 - This ribbon is a sign of mourning for those killed in the September 11th attack.
  • In New Zealand, a black ribbon was worn by family members after the deaths of 29 trapped miners who died in an explosion on November 25, 2010.
  • In Poland, a black ribbon was worn by mourners of Polish president Lech Kaczyński, his wife, and 95 other important senior officials who died on April 10, 2010.
  • In the United Kingdom after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997.
  • The black ribbon has again made an appearance shortly after category 5 Hurricane Katrina landed along the Gulf Coast of the United States in August 2005.
  • The black ribbon was a symbol of popular grief in Spain after the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks. It was worn on clothing and also pinned on the Spanish flag.
  • Google displayed a black ribbon as a mark of respect and sympathy for victims of 9/11, the 7 July 2005 London bombings, and victims of Hurricane Katrina.
  • After the earthquake on August 15, 2007 in Peru, black ribbons were the icons of all Peruvian television channels for 3 days
  • After the death of Heath Ledger in January 2008, Warner Brothers placed a black ribbon on their marketing website for The Dark Knight in his memory.
  • The black ribbon has been also used by the journalists in the Philippines to condemn the killings of journalists on the Maguindanao massacre.
  • In Northern Ireland, Bloody Sunday 1972 - to remember the murders and attempted murders of civilians at the peak of The Troubles.
  • Police officers often wear black ribbons in mourning of fallen officers.
  • 20 July 2012: The 12 people killed, out of the 71 shot, at the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado.
  • Turks use the black ribbon to mourn for the casualties of Turkish soldiers in the Turkey-PKK conflict.

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Famous quotes containing the words sign of, sign and/or mourning:

    “Many men are deeply moved by the mere semblance of suffering in a woman; they take the look of pain for a sign of constancy or of love.”
    —Honoré De Balzac (1799–1850)

    “No, no; but as in my idolatry
    I said to all my profane mistresses,
    Beauty, of pity, foulness only is
    A sign of rigour: so I say to thee,
    To wicked spirits are horrid shapes assign’d,
    This beauteous form assures a piteous mind.”
    —John Donne (1572–1631)

    “Like as the culver on the bared bough
    Sits mourning for the absence of her mate,”
    —Edmund Spenser (1552?–1599)