What Colour Is Your Belief?

When what you believe is on your sleeve.

It’s not new, but it’s the biggest craze in showing off what you believe and making a statement. Wearing shirts and accessories to show off your belief. Some statements are bolder than others, well some hit really close to home. Think of the Breast Cancer Pink. People wear it to show their support and to remember those who have been lost to the disease. In Buddhism, the colour yellow represents humility. Since it resembles the colour of the earth, it symbolizes a certain oneness with the earth. So what’s the latest colour belief trend? Red t-shirt Fridays.

It’s actually pretty well known, even if you’ve never heard of it. Basically, wearing a red t-shirt on Friday is a way to show that you are thinking of the soldiers in Afghanistan (and elsewhere) and believe in what they are fighting for. Things like democracy and a safer lifestyle for Afghani civilians. Sure, the red t-shirt isn’t for everybody. Just walking from the Dupont subway station to the front doors of George Brown College, you see ten to twenty posters trying to rally people to get the troops to come home. Also, you may be asking how wearing a shirt can support people who are overseas. It’s not about showing them, but showing their family, friends and other supporters that you are thinking about them. Some places have made a rather big deal about it too. The Kitchener Oktoberfest parade had a whole section of people wearing their red t-shirts carrying signs that say Support Our Troops. Not to mention, all of the GTA’s emergency crews have taken to showing their support for their fellow men and women.

Along with the red t-shirts has been the yellow ribbon. The same ribbon the emergency crews have stuck in their window, on their trucks, cars and vans. The yellow ribbon that mothers and fathers of the Canadian soldiers have tied to trees and pinned to their blouses. These people don’t just wear the red and yellow, they believe in it. They go to support meetings and sell the shirts to fellow supporters; they participate in parades and help each other get through the hard times.

But maybe red and yellow aren’t your colours. And maybe you don’t think that we should have soldiers overseas right now. There have been several other ways people have shown their “true colours” through clothing. Look at the homosexual community. Ever been to a Pride parade? Personally, I haven’t, but I’ve seen several pictures. It’s all about the rainbows. What does that rainbow represent anyway? The red means life, orange is for healing, the yellow is for sun, the green represents nature, the blue means harmony and the purple is meant to show spirit. That’s a lot of information to take in. However, the people who wear these rainbows believe in what all those colours stand for. They show them proudly as shirts, belt buckles, bumper stickers, and even flags outside their homes. They’re not ashamed, and they take their pride seriously.

Orange in this next example doesn’t mean healing. It was actually a political statement in the Ukraine. The back-story is this. There was an election in November of 2004 that was incredibly corrupt. Basically the people chose one guy (Viktor Yushchenko) and the authorities rigged the election in favour of a guy named Viktor Yanukovych. So, to protest the people chose the colour orange, in the form of headbands, shirts, pants, etc. to unify themselves and used several variances of protesting. From sit-ins to strikes to just general acts of civil disobedience, they protested for several months. In the end, they got their way, and Yushchenko was inaugurated in January of 2005. Some people still wear the orange to remember the times. And orange has popped up a few times in the past and since then. There was even a movie made about the entire event, The Orange Revolution.

Speaking of revolutions, let’s go back a few hundred years to the invention of something called a cockade. A cockade is “an ornament, such as a rosette or knot of ribbon, usually worn on the hat as a badge” (www.dictionary.com). Basically, it’s just a circle in several colours that dates back to the pre-revolution years of France. They started out white to support the Bourbon dynasty of Great Britain. They slowly turned to different colours to support different beliefs. However, the most commonly known one is the tricolore of France. You may remember it. It’s a circle made of the colours red, white and blue in that order from the outside in. They represented the allegiance to France. Several different loyalties used several different cockades to show their commitment to whatever flag or country the cockade represented.

See, wearing colours to show your belief isn’t lame. Nor is it uncommon. It can be traced back to the early 1700s straight through to today. Some people look in their closet to find a shirt to compliment their skin tone. Others go looking for a shirt that represents their “true colours”. These people may just wear the shirt to bring what’s on the inside to the outside. However, others wear it to spread awareness to others. Whatever the reason, whatever your belief, don’t be afraid to wear it on your sleeve, or belt or bumper. And if people ask, you should tell them. Spread the message and share the news.

I wear my red t-shirt on Fridays. In fact, mine is usually emblazoned with the yellow ribbon screen printed on chest. When people ask, I tell them why I’m wearing my shirt. That doesn’t mean that they are going to agree with me, but I leave knowing they have a new opinion of me. Whether good or bad, if I know I have informed just one more person that makes all the difference to me. Next time you go to your closet to choose your outfit for the day, ask yourself one question: what colour is your belief?