Awareness Ribbons

Thanks to a lot of great work by a lot of great people and organizations, everybody knows that the pink ribbon is a symbol of hope for breast cancer patients.

What some people don't realize, is that other forms of cancer have their own special colors for awareness ribbons. I have asked the Community Volunteer Specialist as Roswell Park Cancer Institute about awareness colors, and she assured me that patients take their colors very seriously, and that the support ribbons are a real symbol of hope - not just for breast cancer patients, but for all cancer patients.

I'm going to try to start working the various colors into the designs of chemo caps that I donate. It seems an easy way to share hope and support with people facing a real challenge.

Here is a list of colors:


Pink - Breast Cancer
Teal - Ovarian Cancer
PearlClear - Lung Cancer
Purple - Pancreatic Cancer
Purple - Leiomyosarcoma
Orange - Leukemia
Black - Melanoma
Dark Blue - Colon Cancer
Burgundy - Multiple Myeloma
Grey - Brain Cancer
Blue - Prostate Cancer
Gold - Childhood Cancers
Lavender - General cancer Awareness
Lime Green - Lymphoma
Peach - Uterine Cancer
Kelly Green - Kidney cancer
Yellow - Sarcoma/Bone Cancer
Yellow - Bladder Cancer
Teal/White - Cervical Cancer
Burgundy/Ivory - Head and Neck Cancer
Emerald Green - Liver Cancer
Periwinkle Blue - Esophageal Cancer

In addition to cancer, there are many other causes/conditions that have adopted awareness ribbons: supporting our troops, autism, substance abuse, and depression to name just a few. A list of some of these other causes and their ribbon colors can be found here - this is my dear friend Lynn's blog at Beading Help Web.