The Ribbon Against Animal Cruelty
Two colours. One stance. One visible sign.
Animal cruelty happens every day – openly or hidden, out of indifference, being overwhelmed, profit motives, or deliberate cruelty. Many animals suffer without their fate ever becoming publicly known. Others are only noticed once help comes too late.
With the new two-coloured ribbon, Existiert.org wants to create a lasting and clearly visible sign against animal cruelty – combining teal green and orange, for the protection of life, vigilance, determination, and active intervention.
Why a dedicated ribbon against animal cruelty?
Memorial and awareness ribbons are used worldwide to draw attention to diseases, social issues, fates, and important causes. They create recognition. They connect people. They make a stance visible without needing many words.
So far, however, there has been no widely known and unmistakable symbol that stands lastingly and clearly for the shared fight against animal cruelty. This is exactly where Existiert.org's new ribbon comes in.
It is meant to bring together people who stand up for animals regardless of organisations, associations, political convictions, or personal backgrounds. Because animal cruelty is not a marginal issue, and animal welfare must not be a competition.
It does not matter whether someone helps professionally, voluntarily, or privately; whether someone is active in an association, rescues animals, reports abuses, files complaints, organises vigils, provides veterinary care, or shares posts on social media. What matters is the shared stance:
Two colours, one shared message
#167C78RGB
22, 124, 120#F79239RGB
247, 146, 57CMYK
0, 51, 87, 0Pantone
PMS 021 C/UTeal green – the signal of life
The first colour of the ribbon is a strong shade between teal, green, and blue – chosen deliberately: vigilant, modern, serious, and calm, yet clearly visible and memorable. Teal green stands for the life that must be protected.
It symbolises:
- the protection of animals and the dignity of every living being
- attentiveness, vigilance, and responsibility
- calm and composure in action
- hope, rescue, care, and safety
- decisive intervention
The colour is a reminder that every animal is a sentient being – it feels fear, stress, pain, hunger, thirst, and loneliness, even if it cannot express this in human words. Teal green is therefore the signal of life of this ribbon: the moment a person does not look away, but recognises – an animal needs protection here, action is needed here.
Orange – visibility and determination
The second colour of the ribbon is orange – a strong, striking, and activating colour that is quickly perceived and creates attention without standing exclusively for grief.
In the context of protecting animals from cruelty, orange already carries special meaning: the American animal welfare organisation ASPCA traditionally calls for people to publicly speak out against animal cruelty under the motto "Go Orange" during its "Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month". A globally binding HEX colour prescribed exclusively for this awareness month could not be reliably confirmed – however, the colour value #F79239 is documented as a specific orange tone in an official ASPCA brand handbook. Existiert.org therefore deliberately adopts this shade as the second colour of the new ribbon.
Orange stands for:
- visibility, attentiveness, and determination
- courage and warning
- public action and uncovering abuses
- resistance against indifference
- the demand for consequences
The shared meaning
The two colours complement each other. Teal green stands for the life we want to protect. Orange stands for the determination with which we act against animal cruelty.
Together they form a ribbon that expresses both protection and readiness to act. It stands for compassion, but not for passive pity. It stands for grief, but also for consequence. It stands for remembrance, but equally for change.
It stands for animals that could be rescued, and for those for whom every help came too late. It stands for all animals that were abused, neglected, abandoned, tormented, or killed. It remembers known victims of animal cruelty – and equally the countless animals whose names no one knows and whose suffering never became public.
A sign for everyone who does not look away
The ribbon is not meant to be the symbol of a single organisation. Existiert.org wants to establish it as a shared symbol of recognition for:
Animal welfare advocates · animal rescuers · animal keepers · veterinarians · foster carers · rescue centres · animal shelters · sanctuaries · wildlife aid groups · emergency responders · authority staff · journalists · whistleblowers · witnesses · supporters · everyone who stands against animal cruelty.
No one needs to be a member of an organisation to wear or use this ribbon. It is meant to connect people who share the same basic conviction:
What the ribbon stands for
Whoever wears, publishes, or displays this ribbon declares:
- I do not look away.
- I listen when animals suffer.
- I take reports seriously.
- I help when help is possible.
- I report animal cruelty.
- I support people who protect animals.
- I demand accountability and consequences.
- I remember the victims.
- I stand against violence, neglect, and cruelty towards animals.
The ribbon is not a substitute for concrete help. It does not replace a report to the police, veterinary office, regulatory authority, or relevant animal welfare bodies, nor a rescue, medical care, or a formal complaint.
But it can raise awareness. It can spark conversations. It can make people look more closely. And it can show that those fighting animal cruelty are not alone.
Where the ribbon should become visible
The ribbon should be used wherever people want to set a sign against animal cruelty – on websites, on social media, as a profile picture or profile frame, on banners and cover images, posters, flyers, stickers, buttons, pins, clothing, flags, vehicles, at vigils, memorial events, information stands, campaigns, in videos, press releases, at public events, and in memorial posts for killed animals.
The more often the ribbon becomes visible, the more firmly its meaning can anchor itself in public awareness. The goal is clear recognition: when people see this colour combination, they should know:
Free to use – so the ribbon becomes visible everywhere
The ribbon against animal cruelty is not meant to be a symbol that only Existiert.org or select organisations are allowed to use. Quite the opposite: we explicitly make this ribbon fully available.
Animal welfare associations, shelters, rescue centres, animal rescuers, initiatives, private individuals, organisers, and everyone who wants to set a visible sign against animal cruelty should be able to use the ribbon. It may be used digitally, published, shared, printed, reproduced, and used for one's own projects against animal cruelty – including self-printing.
Our goal is not to artificially limit the ribbon. Our goal is that it spreads, becomes visible, is worn, and connects people into a shared symbol against animal cruelty.
Go to downloadsPublic style guide
In addition, a publicly accessible style guide will be published, containing clear, understandable, and consistent guidelines for using the ribbon. Among other things, it will define:
- the official colours and binding colour values
- the correct depiction of the ribbon
- permitted sizes and spacing, suitable background colours
- versions for light and dark backgrounds
- variants for print and digital media
- guidance on placement, minimum sizes, and clear space
- examples of correct use and of depictions that should be avoided
The style guide is currently in preparation and will be published here once it is complete.
Planned file formats
For the most versatile use possible, various file formats will be provided:
- high-resolution PNG files with a transparent background
- print-ready PDF files and scalable vector files
- versions for light and dark backgrounds, black-and-white versions
- templates for stickers, buttons, posters, and flyers
- templates for social media as well as profile and cover images
An initial version of the ribbon graphic is already available in the download area; further formats will follow with the style guide.
A unified symbol, not exclusive property
The ribbon is not meant to assert ownership claims over a shared cause. It is not meant to be artificially limited or marketed exclusively. Our goal is not to retain control over the symbol – our goal is for it to become known and for as many people as possible to set a clear sign against animal cruelty with it.
At the same time, we ask that the ribbon be used respectfully and in keeping with its meaning. It should not be used for content that trivialises animal cruelty, spreads hatred, threatens people, or contradicts the fundamental idea of animal welfare.
The ribbon may be used freely. However, it may not be used to feign a cooperation, endorsement, or official affiliation with Existiert.org that does not actually exist.
Print and share it yourself
We explicitly encourage printing and sharing the ribbon yourself – as a small paper ribbon, a sticker, on information material, as a button, on fabric, as a template for real cloth ribbons, on posters, at vigils, at information stands, in shop windows, in veterinary practices, animal shelters, and rescue centres.
Associations, schools, initiatives, veterinary practices, animal shelters, shops, and organisers can also use the ribbon to make their support visible. The more people use the ribbon, the stronger its shared message becomes.
No political appropriation
The protection of animals must not be claimed by a party, a political direction, or a particular social group. Animal cruelty knows no political colour – it happens regardless of origin, income, religion, occupation, or worldview.
The new ribbon is therefore meant to remain explicitly independent of party politics and open to all worldviews. It does not stand for a political organisation, but for a shared ethical stance:
No competition in animal welfare
This ribbon is not meant to highlight individual people, associations, or organisations. Animal welfare is not a competition for attention, reach, recognition, or donations.
Every genuine help for an animal matters. Every factual report can be decisive. Every rescue counts. Every complaint can help make animal cruelty visible. Every vigil can create remembrance. Every person who takes responsibility deserves recognition.
The ribbon is therefore meant to connect, not divide – without distinctions between large and small organisations, well-known and unknown helpers, or professional and voluntary commitment.
Remembering and changing
The ribbon is both a sign of action and a symbol of remembrance. It remembers animals who lost their lives through human violence, neglect, or failure – those whose suffering became known, but equally all those who died without a name, without publicity, and without justice.
Remembrance alone, however, is not enough. Responsibility must grow out of remembrance, action out of being affected, and change must follow public attention. This includes:
- consistent investigations and reports taken seriously
- effective controls and faster responses from authorities
- better cooperation between relevant bodies
- sufficient resources for shelters and rescue centres
- more education and stronger prevention
- consistent application of existing laws
- appropriate legal consequences for animal cruelty
The ribbon therefore stands not only for grief over past suffering. It stands for the demand to prevent future suffering. More on this: our detailed demands.
Our invitation
Use the ribbon. Print it. Wear it. Share it. Publish it. Use it at events. Use it on websites, posters, flyers, buttons, and profile pictures. Explain to others what it stands for.