If you’ve ever been intrigued to know the meaning of coloured wristbands, now’s your chance to find out!

We take you through some popular colours and their significance when chosen as wristbands after setting the scene by explaining the history behind colour wristbands.

Once you’ve read our article, you’ll be well versed in wristband colour meaning and your new knowledge will help you decide which one works best for you!

Where did it all start?

The wristband owes its origins to cyclist Lance Armstrong. Back in 1997, not long after he had been diagnosed with testicular cancer, he set up the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Yellow wristbands — symbolising the yellow jersey that is worn by the leader in the cycling race Tour de France — with the logo “LIVE STRONG” were sold to raise funds for Armstrong’s foundation.

The original yellow wristband captured the public’s imagination, and since then, wristbands of every colour have been used to show support and raise awareness of an infinite number of issues.

Wristband colour meanings

Now that we know where it all started, let’s take a look at what individual wristband colours symbolise.

Red

This bold colour is perhaps best known for representing AIDS awareness.

Originally, support for people living with this disease was shown by wearing a red ribbon. Nowadays you have the choice of a ribbon or a wristband to show that you care about this cause.

Red also represents support for cardiovascular disease and substance abuse.

Pink

Pink has long been associated with raising awareness of breast cancer and comes to prominence during October, Australia’s awareness month. Wear a pink wristband to show your support and take part in the many activities to raise awareness such as holding a pink-themed tea party or dressing in pink at work.

Pink is also the colour of women’s health issues in general.

Orange

Anti-bullying week takes place in November every year, and supporters may wear orange wristbands to show that they are against bullying of all kinds.

Orange is also the colour of leukaemia awareness month, which takes place in September.

Peach

Wear a peach wristband to show awareness of uterine and endometrial cancer as well as any of the invisible illnesses. This includes Crohn’s disease, lupus and fibromyalgia, which may be misdiagnosed and little understood.

Yellow

As we’ve already discovered, yellow was originally used to raise awareness of testicular cancer. These days, yellow and gold are the colours chosen to represent childhood cancer and yellow wristbands are worn during the awareness month in September.

Green

One of the most obvious uses of the colour green is for environmental issues and anything to do with nature.

It’s also used for raising awareness of a whole range of health-related conditions, including depression, organ donation hepatitis B, liver cancer, coeliac disease, dwarfism and genetic disorders.

Blue

Teal blue is the colour chosen to represent ovarian cancer awareness while other shades of blue are used to show awareness of men’s health issues, including prostate cancer

Light blue is also used to show support for foster care.

Purple

Wear a purple wristband to show your support for those living with pancreatic cancer. In recent years, it’s also been used to raise awareness of testicular cancer, rather than the yellow originally associated with the disease.

You’ll also find that purple is the colour associated with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer affecting the immune system.

Purple wristbands are also worn during October, National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

Black

We all know black as the colour of mourning. It’s also used on wristbands to promote the “Black Lives Matter” movement and awareness of skin cancer.

White

White is associated with the campaign “Make Poverty History” and is also the colour most commonly associated with peace.

Grey

Grey is the colour of awareness for allergies, asthma and brain cancer.

Multicoloured wristbands

The most colourful wristbands in rainbow colours have come to symbolise the LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) communities.

Wristbands in rainbow colours may also represent support for multiculturalism and autism.

A colour for every cause!

There’s a colour for every cause when it comes to raising awareness of health, social and many other issues.

Our list isn’t exhaustive but will give you a head start in understanding more about what each colour represents.

Select a wristband in the colour of your cause and wear it with pride to show your support. You can check out when your chosen awareness day, week or month takes place in 2022 here. Then choose silicone wristbands with custom wording to show your support loud and clear!

For silicone wristbands delivered Australia wide, browse our full selection. We can ship your wristband to you quickly wherever you are, so if you’ve got an awareness event coming up it’s definitely not too late to place your order!