Canadians are encouraged to wear an orange shirt on this day. Learn more about Canada's legacy of Indian Residential Schools at the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.
The initiative calls for every Canadian to wear an orange shirt on September 30th in the spirit of healing and reconciliation.
On September 30, Orange Shirt Day promotes awareness about the Indian residential school system still impacting Native American communities in the United States and Canada. Known as National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, the day honors the children forced into Indian boarding schools.
The purpose of wearing orange is to show a unified step towards reconciliation and building stronger relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.
In general, red symbolized war, earth, success, blood, energy, and power. Black was an aggressive color that symbolized victory, triumph, and strength, but also death. White stood for peace, mourning, and also for heaven. Blue represented wisdom and confidence. Green represented harmony, healing, and endurance.
The orange shirt now symbolizes how the residential school system took away the indigenous identities of its students. However, the association of the colour with the First Nations goes back to antiquity, the colour represents sunshine, truth-telling, health, regeneration, strength and power.
This is Why We Wear Orange: How to Honour Canada's National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. Also known simply as Orange Shirt Day, the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation takes place annually on September 30 in Canada.
Wear Orange is now observed every June. Thousands of people wear the color orange to honor Hadiya and the more than 43,000 Americans are killed with guns and approximately 76,000 more are shot and wounded every year.
Yellow – which represents the Sun, the giver of life and protector. Red – which represents the red earth. Black - the unlit towers will represent the Indigenous people of Australia.
It's called “Reconciliation, a ripple effect through education.” Nikita created her design with colours from across Australia: purple and red for berries, brown and yellow for flowers and seeds, blues for our waters and rivers, ochres for ceremony and culture – amongst many others!
Why yellow? link. Yellow is the centre of the Aboriginal flag – the sun, the giver of energy and life. Yellow is also the Children's Ground colour – fresh, energetic and hopeful.
On National Gun Violence Awareness Day—June 2, 2023—we will #WearOrange to bring awareness to the gun violence crisis, which takes 120 lives and wounds hundreds more EVERY SINGLE DAY in this country. Learn more at wearorange.org.
Whether it's worn by students in Montana, activists in New York, or Hadiya's loved ones in Chicago, the color orange honors the 120 lives cut short and the hundreds more wounded by gun violence every day. Our movement gains momentum when people come together to fight for a future free from gun violence.
Designers warn to avoid orange shirts exploiting Indigenous art ahead of Sept. 30. Indigenous designers are cautioning people wishing to mark the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation by wearing an orange shirt to avoid vendors looking to turn a profit while purporting to represent Indigenous causes.
Orange Shirt Day was created as an opportunity to discuss the effects of residential schools and their legacy. It honours the experiences of Indigenous Peoples, celebrates resilience and affirms a commitment that every child matters.
The campaign was developed with consideration for indigenous traditions, as the colour orange is recognized as a symbol of the loss of childhood innocence, and disconnection from family in Indigenous experiences. It is also common practice in Indigenous cultures to tie ribbons to tree trunks as a memorial marker.
“It represents an important day of remembrance”
Phyllis's clothes were taken away from her, including the orange shirt. The orange shirt was never returned to her, but the colour orange always made Phyllis think of her experiences at a residential school.
On Sunday, they got together at the Rail Yards in Albuquerque for a "Wear Orange" event that brought them together to raise awareness of the impact of gun violence.
Indigenous and non-Indigenous people come together in the spirit of hope and reconciliation.
What do the colors represent? The four colors (black, white, yellow, and red) embody concepts such as the Four Directions, four seasons, and sacred path of both the sun and human beings. Arrangement of colors vary among the different customs of the Tribes. What is it used for?
Several studies concluded that color is part of the social learning process because of the significant symbolism within the culture. High quality, trustworthiness, and dependability are symbolized by blue in the US, Japan, Korea and green and yellow in China – as well as purple in China, South Korea, and Japan.