American Flag Heart 2

Illustration of an American flag with a yellow ribbon around it

In the United States the yellow ribbon is frequently a symbol of support for American troops. The earliest known instance of this is in the early 19th century when women wore a yellow ribbon in their hair as a sign of devotion to a spouse or sweetheart serving in the U.S. cavalry. Between November of 1979 and January of 1981 the yellow ribbon was displayed in support of Americans that were held hostage in Iran, but during the Gulf War in the early 1990's the ribbon appeared alongside the “support our troops” slogan and was used in this way again during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.