It is my opinion that "ribbons" are the modern equivalent of papal indulgences. They allow one to buy one's guilt away.
Just finished cranking through Bible and Sword which sort of revised my understanding of civilization. It sort of works like this: Judaism - there is one true god, all your gods are wrong. Christianity - There is one true god, and you Jews misinterpreted all that shit. Islam - There is one true god, and you Jews and Christians got a lot of it right but not enough. Protestantism - There is one true god, Jews and Muslims are heretics and the Catholics lost the script. Anglicanism - There is one true god, and while the Protestants are heretics and the Catholics idolaters the Jews are pretty badass. But also wrong. Puritanism - The Anglicans are the most corrupt of all but they were right about the Jewish thing. Except Jews are icky. Pentecostalism - Everybody's wrong but until the Jews are back in the Holy Land Baby Jesus ain't comin'. Lather, rinse, repeat.
My first experience with ribbons was the Gulf War. I remember the yellow ribbons that everyone was wearing, tying to trees, etc. Even as an 8 year old I thought they were dumb as shit (although I did collect Gulf War trading cards, which I still have, and which are awesome). Were ribbons of support a thing before that? I assume so, but Gulf War was the first time I was old enough to be aware of the world during a conflict.