Blue ribbons are typically 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 endeavors (such as county and state fairs).
It has also been applied to distinguished members of a group or commission who have convened to address a situation or problem; in these cases, the usual usage is "blue ribbon commission" or "blue-ribbon panel".
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 the second-place (or reserve) champion.
Usage as an awareness or activism ribbon
Blue ribbons have also been used as awareness ribbons for numerous different causes. Notable examples:
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.[13]
In Sweden, there is a temperance organization with the name "Blå bandet" (The Blue Ribbon).[14]
The blue ribbon is used as an emblems against child abuse by the National Exchange Club for their national project, the Prevention of Child Abuse. The Club adopted the blue ribbon in 1979 with the encouragement of National President Edward North Jr., a physician from Jackson, Mississippi, who observed increased instances of abuse through his medical practice.[citation needed] The blue ribbon became the emblem of the project following the example of Bonnie Finney.[19] 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.[20]
Blue ribbons for boys (and pink for girls) were used from the mid-19th century on christening gowns in Paris,[22][23] and to a limited extent in the United States.[24][25][26] In St. Petersburg (Russia) ribbons of the same color scheme were used on white funeral shrouds for children.[27]
In Australia and New Zealand, safe seats are sometimes described as "blue-ribbon seats".[28][29] 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.[30]
Companies and products
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.
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