Ribbons

Ribbons first appear in the novel as an adornment on Mollie, the pretty white mare, who enters the barn during Old Major's speech with her white mane plaited with red ribbons, hoping to draw attention. She chews at a lump of sugar while flirting her mane, establishing her vanity and attachment to human symbols of beauty even as the animals are called to rebellion.

After the Rebellion, Snowball throws the ribbons onto the rubbish fire, declaring them to be clothes, 'the mark of a human being.' He asserts that 'All animals should go naked,' reinforcing the revolutionary principle of rejecting human vices and purging all traces of human reign.

Mollie's attachment to ribbons proves stronger than her revolutionary commitment. She steals a blue ribbon from Mrs. Jones's dressing-table and admires herself in the mirror, earning sharp reproach from the others. Later, Clover discovers hidden under Mollie's straw a stash of lump sugar and several bunches of ribbons of different colours, revealing Mollie's secret loyalty to the old way of life. Shortly after, Mollie defects to the human world, where she is seen wearing a scarlet ribbon and being fed sugar by a publican.

The ribbons are a precursor to the pigs' eventual adoption of human clothing. In the final chapter, Napoleon appears in a black coat, ratcatcher breeches, and leather leggings, while his favourite sow wears Mrs. Jones's watered silk dress. The pigs carry whips and walk on their hind legs, having fully embraced the human habits that the ribbons once symbolized. The original prohibition against clothes, which included ribbons, is completely overturned.