This Breast-Cancer Ribbon Has a Different Take on Pink. Here’s What It Means

Landmarks around the world will be lighting up in green, pink, and teal during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. That frustrating fact is the reason more and more people are embracing a breast-cancer-awareness ribbon that’s more than just pink. Created by SELF in 1992, the instantly recognizable pink ribbon is often associated with early detection and celebrating survivors—but there’s no surviving or “beating” MBC. Thus a newer, tricolor MBC ribbon aims to make people aware of the need for more funding toward the development of life-extending treatments. Green represents the triumph of spring over winter, life over death; teal symbolizes healing and spirituality; and a thin pink-ribbon overlay signifies metastatic cancer that originated in the breast.

By Petra Guglielmetti, Glamour Magazine