UNBEKNOWN to most, the symbol of the “yellow ribbon” has been around for about 400 years since the English civil war. The anti-Catholic Puritans formed an army to overthrow the king and establish a parliamentary government and wore yellow ribbons onto the battlefield.
Since then, it has been used as a symbol of protest against injustice or anger over a particular situation from the sinking of a river cruise ship— Dongfang zhi Xing—in China to suicide awareness in New Zealand. Often, the yellow ribbon was used by women to show loyalty to husbands and sweethearts away at war.
The song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon ’Round the Ole Oak Tree” became a global hit in 1973, and 10 years later supporters of Benigno S. Aquino Jr. tied yellow ribbons along the streets of Metro Manila to welcome him home. The color yellow was a symbol of the anti-Marcos movement and became associated with the Aquino family and by extension, the Liberal Party.
Pictures of President Duterte and former President Benigno S. Aquino III standing side by side on the day of the President’s recent inauguration showed Mr. Duterte with a Philippine flag pin on his barong while Aquino sported the yellow ribbon.
We can certainly appreciate the significance of this symbol in Philippine history. It is both a reminder of what happened in the past and a sort of memorial to those times and the people that shaped those events. In July 2014, though, then-President Aquino asked the people to wear yellow ribbons if they still supported him amid his falling approval ratings.
Henri Tajfel was a British social psychologist and a prisoner of war fighting the Germans as a member of the French army during World War II. His research centered on how ordinary people could adopt extreme prejudices as happened in Nazi Germany. It has since become known as “in-group favoritism” or “in-group–out-group bias.” Taking a number of strangers and separating them into two groups with different colored shirts created prejudices and favoritism.
Through a series of scenarios, group members behaved viciously toward the out-group when competing for limited resources. In-group members rated each other more positively on looks, intelligence and skills than members of the out-group. When members of the two groups were mixed with new different colored shirts, the original favoritism and bias still remained even when the two new groups had to compete. If you have ever watched the television series Survivor, you have seen this in-group–out-group bias happen.
While we should not forget the past, it is time to put the colors away. It is time to unite under one flag and discuss issues with only one goal—a better Philippines or a better life for all Filipinos.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano