In the past few years, several organization have decided to promote (to let people know about, to advertise) their cause (some issue or problem they want to solve) by using bracelets, a thin piece of plastic, metal, or other material that you wear around your wrist (where your arm is attached to your hand). These bracelets are often sold to raise money for these organizations and causes, and to let other people know about them.
I think the first one I remember seeing was a yellow “LiveStrong” bracelet that was to support the fight against cancer. This was started back in 2004 by Lance Armstrong, the American cyclist (someone who races bicycles) who won the Tour de France. Now every group is making its own bracelet, each with a different color. Here are some of the colors that you will see people in the US wearing and what cause or organization they support. Notice that some colors are used by several different causes, but many are related to some disease people are trying to cure or prevent:
- Green – kidney (part of your body that cleans your blood) disease, but also muscular dystrophy and the crisis in Darfur, in Africa.
- Purple – Alzheimer’s disease, lupus
- Orange – multiple sclerosis
- Blue- Crohn’s disease, autism, stopping childhood bullying (when children make fun of or threaten each other)
- White – poverty
- Red – diabetes, AIDS
Although the popularity of colored bracelets is a recent phenomenon (happening, situation), bracelets originally became popular back in the 1970s and 1980s to show support for soldiers who had died in a war or were prisoners of war (POWs), and are still worn for that reason as well. These are usually black or made of stainless steel.
Are bracelets like these popular where you live? Do you wear one?
~Jeff
in my country, the red bracelet is related AIDS. and as i konw, it is a international rule.
In France, we have these bracelets too. The most populars are :
White : Poverty
Pink : Breast cancer
Black and white :”stand up and speak up” against the racism in the soccer
Yellow : LiveStrong
but now we find some counterfeit bracelets, therefore they become less interesting from my point of view
I had once green bracelet witch allowed to drink a lot of beer at British beer fest, supporting cancer treatment but it was probably different kind of bracelet. Anyway, they had about 20 barrels of beer, each one sponsored by someone else. You had a piece of paper to tick and rate them. Unfortunately traditional British beer isn’t very tasty 😉
Yes. became an international way to promote a cause. 😉
In Spain, where I’m from, I don’t know if this bracelets exist, but I think that it’s a good idea to give support some cause or fight against something.
I’ve just heared the news on the radio that there is docked in the port of my city one ship belonging to dutch ONG ‘Women on waves’. This ship called ‘Menina’ will stay in this port until next Tuesday and your intention is to go only twelve miles of the coast (international water) to execute abort pharmacological to all women that they want.
I’m against the ‘death penalty’ whoever he is, including the no born.
Anybody know what bracelet I have to use to fight against this deat penalty?. If so, I would like know it.
Greetings.
P.S.: for more information http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2008/10/16/valencia/1224173270.html
it came first to my eyes is when the streetball culture landed to China many years ago, 2001 or 2002. and i saw many friends worn those plastic bracelet when they play basketball, but the meaning for helping ppl didnt come at the same time. i used to have a kobe bracelet in purple, we wore it only for fun, or a cool image, i didnt see ppl who play other kinds of sport wereing it. only basketball lovers.And i remember there used to have such words like god bless people on it,(sjwt or what, cant remind it up) and an American friend told me they were praying for ppl who passed away on9.11 by wearing those plastic bracelet.
Plastic bracelet became populur again in the pass year by Mcdonald,they give it to you as selling food, and i think it is no longer a fashion symbol as it was.
This is new to me also, I know nothing about bracelets and it’s difficult to know if this actitude may be good to encrease interest about these problems, or to promote these causes.
What I think is that sometimes when a well known person suffer one of these decease that even may increase the interest or the investigations about his/her problem. Something similar happened with Steve Reeves, “Superman”, when he had the horse accident and he was confined to a wheel chair all the rest of his life was a constant efford to develope investigations about sterm cels in order to repair spinal cord what nowadays it’s impossible. It should be so good to develop such possibility as there are so many people in that bad situation…..
My hope now is that once Obama should be president he and his wife Michelle could improve all medical research about these kind of deceases, just because Obama’s mother pass away suffering a cancer and Michelle’s father also died because he had multiple sclerosis same decease as my wife suffers.
So, if the fact of wearing an orange bracelet should be good to improve multiple sclerosis research I do wear one all the days of my life, day and night, that for sure.
Sorry, my wife tell me now that Superman actor’s name was Christopher Reeves, not Steve, as this one was another Italian actor. She is much better informed than me, good.
I don’t think wearing bracelet for a cause is that popular in my country, or maybe I am not just well-informed of that kind of instances. But it’s nice to know that there are things like that, wearing bracelets to identify what group a certain person belongs.
Here in Brazil young people wear this kind of bracelets. The meaning is the same of the rest of the world. I think it is a way to show feelings. It is ok!
I know only “Golden Bracelets” on the wrists of womens!! By the way, what’s the reason for that. Is it for promotion, too?! Or may be it’s for attraction! I’m not experienced in this field. May be more experienced people like Jeff or Lucy could explain for me.
No matter how,this is a good website. Once there is a training of English, A foreign teacher introduce it to me. I have listening the programme for a long time. Some of these is used by myself. I feel very happy. Improving my listen and oral english is my hope.
I wear one, which is made of silver. This is the CHinese traditional culture for girls wearing silver bracelet with dragon and pheonix image on, believing this can prevent evils from our body.
I have worn this over 10 years~