If yellow is associated with cowardice, why is it the color to support our troops?

Boy that is ironic considering how useless and nonsensical the war we are in right now has been since day one. Sorry I don't know why they picked yellow.

the yellow-bellied term comes from the name of a bird sapsucker, which has a yellow belly, and is known for having a yellow belly.

Yellow only refers to the color of his belly. The BIRD is known for his skittishness. It has nothing to do with the color.

I'm not sure why the yellow ribbon thing got started. It's been around since WW1 though, and it began with "tying a ribbon round the old oak tree" to honor war heroes. Not sure why they picked yellow.

I don't associate yellow with cowardice though. A color is just a color.

Yellow ribbons stand for a lot of things. This has about all the colors.

The meaning of the yellow ribbon is explained in the link below.

It all stems from a Tony Orlando song called Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree, about a man who is getting out of prison and wants to go back to his lover but is afraid to see her if she says "no." I tihnk this is where the current interest started.

The the 1800's and maybe after the US Cavalry wore yellow kerchiefs around their necks, and there was a song about a woman who wore a yellow ribbon around her neck as a tribute to her sweetheart who was in the cavalry.

Because there was a song during the vietnam war that talked about how a woman tied yellow ribbons to her trees to remind her and others of her deployed loved one.

It's an old song "Tie a yellow ribbon 'round the old oak tree" about a soldier coming home and looking for a sign that his girl still wants him.

Yellow ribbons are commonly used to draw awareness to a cause because it is a highly visible color. That's also why school buses and warning signs are usually yellow.

a yellow stripe was painted down the back of cowards in the old army of the 1800's but also remember the old cav song "GARRY OWEN" which stated around her neck so wore a yellow ribbon , she wore it for her solder who was far far away

The army has special meanings for colors and none of them mean cowardice. Cavalry is yellow, artillery is red (i think), infantry is powder blue. I don't know any other ones but there are a bunch of them. I was in the Corps and we didn't have colors like that.

Semper Fi

Yellow ribbons are also used to symbolize a missing child, who knows.