«Red Ribbon» Psychologies

The red ribbon as a symbol of the fight against HIV/AIDS was invented by artist Frank Moore in 1991. Moore was one of the members of the Visual AIDS Association, which brings together creative people with HIV. Once the artist noticed that his neighbors, whose daughter, a soldier, was in the war zone as part of the peacekeeping corps, tied ribbons in the shape of the letter V — from the word victoria («victory»). Moore had the idea that the tape could also be a metaphor for the victory over AIDS. For him, life with HIV was a very real and no less dramatic struggle, only not external, but internal. The red color of the ribbon was chosen for the color of blood, one of the human body fluids that contains the virus. It also symbolized the idea of ​​»blood brotherhood» of HIV carriers and the passion needed to resist the disease.

Today, the red ribbon has become a familiar attribute of events, actions and movements related to HIV/AIDS. It can be seen on movie stars on the red carpet, Olympic athletes and even Buddhist monks. In 2007, on World AIDS Day, the US government hung a 9-meter red ribbon on the White House as a sign of the fight against HIV. Since then it has become an annual tradition. And in 2012, the largest red ribbon was collected in India. 6847 people put on red and formed a ribbon. Subsequently, it was entered into the Guinness Book of Records.

The #iminred campaign, organized under the auspices of UNESCO, uses the idea of ​​an online flash mob similar to the Ice Bucket Challenge (dedicated to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) or Je suis Charlie. The general message of these actions is to allow people to feel part of a single movement, to become a conduit for changes in society. “When I see the pages of people who put on red and write words of support, I perceive them as my guardian angels,” says Anna, a carrier of the HIV virus. “I imagine that they are all standing behind me when it’s especially difficult for me, and then it becomes easier for me.”