The blue ribbon is a
symbol of high quality. The association comes from The
Blue Riband, a prize awarded for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by passenger liners and, prior to that from
Cordon Bleu, which referred to the blue ribbon worn by the French knightly
Order of the Holy Spirit.
The spelling blue riband is still encountered in most English-speaking countries, but in the United States, the term was altered to blue ribbon, and ribbons of this color came to be awarded for first place in certain athletic or other competitive endeavours (such as
county and
state fairs). It also may be applied to distinguished members of a group or commission who have convened to address a situation or problem; the usual usage is "blue ribbon commission" or "
blue-ribbon panel".
Fair competitions
In some fair competitions in the U.S., particularly
4-H and
FFA livestock and horticultural events, blue ribbons may be awarded to any project or exhibit which meets or exceeds all of a competition's judging criteria. In Canada, New Zealand and Great Britain, blue ribbons are awarded to second place, with
red ribbons awarded to first.
The project may not necessarily be the first-place finisher, however. In such cases, a purple ribbon may be given to the champion and second-place (or reserve) champion.
Usage as an awareness or activism ribbon
Blue ribbons have been used as
awareness ribbons for numerous different causes. Notable examples:
A blue ribbon is also the ribbon used for awareness for the autoimmune disease of
Sjögren's syndrome.[3]
In Canada, it is the symbol of an anti-tobacco, anti-
second hand smoke campaign. It has the same meaning in Japan.[4] Students of the
Hugh Boyd Secondary School in
Richmond, British Columbia started the "Blue Ribbon Campaign" in 1999. Each year it has grown and now has taken on a national scope.[5][6] Singapore is the first country in the region to adopt The Blue Ribbon initiative started by the World Health Organisation Western Pacific Region, on a nationwide scale with 10 markets and food centres.[7]
In Spain, a blue ribbon (lazo azul) was used since 1993 by those opposing the terrorism of
ETA.[8]
In Japan, a blue ribbon is a symbol against
abduction by North Korea. It symbolizes the
Sea of Japan, between Japan and Korea.[11]
In the Philippines, the
Senate has a Blue Ribbon Committee which serves as an oversight to government accountability and conducts investigations against corrupt officials.
In spring 2007, thousands of
World Bank employees started wearing blue ribbons as a symbol of support for the cause of
good governance. This was seen as a silent protest against World Bank President
Paul Wolfowitz, who had to step down several weeks later due to charges of
nepotism.[12]
In Sweden there is a temperance organization with the name "Blå bandet" (The Blue Ribbon).[13]
Against
child abuse. The National Exchange Club’s national project, the Prevention of Child Abuse, was adopted in 1979 with the encouragement of National President Edward North Jr., a physician from Jackson, Mississippi, who observed increased incidences[spelling?] of abuse through his medical practice. The blue ribbon became the emblem of the project following the example of Bonnie Finney.[18] The club sponsors numerous Blue Ribbon Campaigns and Child Abuse Prevention Month in April. In the wake of the
Penn State child sex abuse scandal, the
Penn State Nittany Lions football team announced that they will wear a blue ribbon to support child abuse victims.[19]
Blue ribbons for boys (and pink for girls) were used from the mid-19th century on christening gowns in Paris,[21][22] and to a limited extent in the United States.[23][24][25] In
St. Petersburg (Russia) ribbons of the same color scheme were used on white
funeral shrouds for children.[26]
In Australia and New Zealand,
safe seats are sometimes described as "blue-ribbon seats".[27][28] Safe seats for the two countries' major centre-left parties (the
Australian Labor Party and the
New Zealand Labour Party) were in a single instance referred to by a prominent daily newspaper as "red-ribbon seats", however this is not a legitimate point of reference, as seats where any political interest holds as strong majority have for many decades, commonly been called blue ribbon seats.
In Australia, blue ribbon is also a term referring to shares of any company on the stock exchange deemed to be secure investment. [29]
The Italian
Peroni Brewery has a beer "Nastro Azzurro" referring to the
Blue Riband held by the Italian
SS Rex from 1933 to 1935.
Beginning in the 1940s,
Warner Bros., in a cost-conserving effort, began to reissue its backlog of color cartoons under a new program which they called
Merrie Melodies "Blue Ribbon" reissues. For the reissue, the original front-and-end title sequences were altered.