Its shape is perfectly intact on the bumper. No peeling or fraying visible at all. But the weatherworn ribbon is faded to an almost perfectly colorless dull white, perhaps a hint of gray.

Maybe it was once a splash of rainbow colors, joyfully celebrating diversity, or a bold, brilliant yellow, defiantly believing that soon all the troops will be safely home. Or maybe, in its heyday it was a soft pink –holding out the hope of curing a disease or a hatred of other people’s love lives– blushing at its own daring optimism.

Now it just has the unmistakable shape and pallor of having once cared.