What are the yellow ribbons attached to many cars?

[question everything]

At least in Minnesota? Some have some writing on them, but did not get close enough to read.

[Skuk]

1. "support our troops"

but it should stand for support them by bringin em home.

[Nite Owl]

2. I think they say

Support the Troops. They are all over here (NY) but I have yet to see them sold anywhere. I want one to add to Support the Troops: Elect One. Put it next to my K/E bumpersticker.

[librechik]

3. It means my soldier boy is fighting overseas

I'm comin' home, I've done my time
Now I've got to know what is and isn't mine
If you received my letter telling you I'd soon be free
Then you'll know just what to do
If you still want me
If you still want me
Whoa, tie a yellow ribbon 'round the old oak tree
It's been three long years
Do ya still want me?
If I don't see a ribbon round the old oak tree
I'll stay on the bus
Forget about us
Put the blame on me
If I don't see a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree

Bus driver, please look for me
'cause I couldn't bear to see what I might see
I'm really still in prison
And my love, she holds the key
A simple yellow ribbon's what I need to set me free
I wrote and told her please

Whoa, tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree
It's been three long years
Do ya still want me?
If I don't see a ribbon round the old oak tree
I'll stay on the bus
Forget about us
Put the blame on me
If I don't see a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree

Now the whole damned bus is cheerin'
And I can't believe I see
A hundred yellow ribbons round the old oak tree

I'm comin' home

(Tie a ribbon round the old oak tree)

[Ms. Clio]

4. Does it mean that everyone I see with that ribbon

actually has a son or daughter in the service? Or are some of them just offering moral support? Does a white ribbon mean something different?

Because I see many, many more of those yellow ribbon stickers than I do anything else, except radio station stickers and Jesus fish.

I don't see ANY political bumper stickers here in the Metroplex, at least not in the southern part of Dallas county. It's beginning to drive me batty; I drive around just looking for them.

[librechik]

5. either one. People adopt soldiers overseas all the time

it's a good thing to support the troops.

I don't know about the white one.

No bumperstickers in Dallas? That is a VERY good sign!

[Ms. Clio]

8. Is it a good sign?

I am worried that too many people are just completely disengaged from this whole process.

I do remember seeing a lot more Bush/Cheney stickers in 2000, though, so I guess it is an improvement over that.

[Orion82]

15. I would never

adopt a war criminal. All the troops over there have the option to lay down their weapons and walk away.

[Maddy McCall]

25. PLEASE, for chrissakes, explain exactly how they can exercise that option

I would love to know, so that I can pass it along to my friends who are over there, who HATE being over there.

Please explain exactly how a Marine can lay down his or her weapon and leave Iraq.

[Columbia]

6. No

Yellow ribbons usually just signify moral support as you said.

Blue star flags, however, do signify that family/household has a member serving overseas.

My parents had a yellow ribbon around our oak tree in the front yard and a blue star flag in the kitchen window when I was deployed.

[Ms. Clio]

9. What does a blue star flag look like?

I don't think I've ever seen one of those?

[Columbia]

12. Like this

[Ms. Clio]

13. Thanks very much! n/t

[MrSandman]

26. If the star is gold,

It is for a decedent.

[question everything]

18. I wonder, too, of whether the "support our troops" may also mean

"stay the course." I think that from the beginning of the war, the "support our troops" stickers and yard signs were a hint of the support of the war and the "commander in chief."

[Columbia]

20. Doubtful

My parents had the yellow ribbon and they are far from supporting anything Bush does.

Besides, freepers aren't afraid of putting their W signs on their cars and front yards so I don't think a yellow ribbon is some kind of surreptitious sign of support for him.

[Maddy McCall]

24. I disagree...I have several students and friend who are Democrats...

who have been to Iraq--marines. My support is for all the troops, including my Democratic friends who detest Bush. Definitely NOT for Bush or to "stay the course."

[kurtyboy]

7. Does anyone ever find it ironic that the song is about

an ex-convict returning from prison? How did that ever get translated into a tribute to the fighting men and women of America?

Back in the day, they actually produced a made-for-TV movie based upon the narrative of this song--I remember watching it when I was young.

A half-dozen years later, the ribbons were going up everywhere for the hostages in Iran. Fast-forward to the mid-eighties, they went up for the hostages in Lebanon. Then the Bush I administration pushed them for Gulf War I soldiers--and now, well you know the story. Its got that "Old Shoe", "Wag The Dog" feel to it, in spades.

Gawd I love American culture.

EDIT-And so does Tony Orlando!$!$!

[HuskerDem]

14. That was the very first record I bought

At the Kaufmen&Warner general store. It was a nickel and dime until that became............. obsolete. I played it over and over again. I was 4 but believe it or not I understood it because I paid attention to the news. Poli-sci freak from the cradle I guess...........

Also bought a pet rock, a hermit crab and saw my first digital clock at the same store. What an effin' dinosaur. :wow:

[Andy_Stephenson]

19. Tony Orlando and Dawn....

you just dated yourself.

[proud patriot]

10. I have one on my car

:hi:

[Maddy McCall]

21. I do too, right under by "Somewhere in Texas..." bumpersticker...

and my Kerry/Edwards bumpersticker.

Who says that the right owns patriotism?! Poppycock!

:toast:

[Maddy McCall]

23. See post 22 :-)

[politicat]

11. Available for sale here

They're apparently new.

I saw some in NC when we went to visit my sister and BIL at LeJeune in JAX; they were for sale at the BX. They're just creeping into visibility here.

Gotta order one of the double star service flags. I've got both brothers in various land wars in Asia.

Pcat

[BrotherBuzz]

16. Around my turf.....

our yellow ribbons say 'Crime scene'

[RamboLiberal]

17. I see large numbers of cars in Western PA with them

At least 20-25+ a day. Also see a few with Red, White and Blue ribbons which I believe say God Bless America. Wish I saw that many Kerry/Edwards stickers.

Curious thing is though I'm seeing Kerry and W bumper stickers starting to sprout as well (more Kerry than W), I've yet to see a car with the ribbon sticker and a political sticker.

[Maddy McCall]

22. Here ya go...deep in the heart of the Bible Belt...

This is what you see if you are fortunate enough to be tailgating me. :-)

[MrSandman]

27. The first ones I recall were in the late 70's...

Which agrees with this account.

The fact is, according to research published by the late Gerald E. Parsons, longtime librarian of the Folklife Reading Room of the Library of Congress, the custom didn't exist at all before 1980, when the idea of displaying yellow ribbons in honor of the 52 Americans held hostage by Iranian militants seemingly emerged from nowhere and took the country by storm -- a tribute said to be indirectly inspired by the popular song "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree," composed in 1972, which in turn was inspired by an oral folktale circulating since the 1950s (for the particulars, see Parsons' essay: "Yellow Ribbons: Ties with Tradition").

Granted, the lyrics of "Tie a Yellow Ribbon," not to mention the folktale on which they were based, tell the story of a paroled convict's prospective homecoming, not that of a soldier stationed overseas. Similarly, the Iran hostage crisis involved civilians held captive on foreign soil as opposed to military personnel in combat. But once the basic connection had been drawn between the plight of Americans endangered in conflicts abroad and displaying yellow ribbons as a form of tribute, the stage was set for a fresh application -- first in 1991 to the troops who fought in the Gulf War, and now, 12 years later, to U.S. forces sent back to the region to effect a "regime change."

http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/yellowribbon.htm

[coreystone]

28. I have one, I am looking to find one which says,...

"Support the Troops, Not the Policy":kick:

[leesa]

29. It's tha fake "We support our troops" crowd. You know, the ones who

'support' troops by sending them to their deaths unnecessarily.