Have you ever wondered about the red armband of Suzumiya Haruhi? In Japan, there is a method to identify the leader of a group, the student council, or the president of a school club. The person usually wears a red armband on their arm with the title of the organization or group.
Some wear armbands of different colors, mainly because the red armband in the West was once represented as communism, socialism and Nazism. The color red really represents leadership, which symbolizes all these occasions, especially the leader of some group or organization.
In doramas and animes, it is also common to find various types of workers, reporters, journalists, and even police officers wearing an armband, usually white, as a means of identification. The armband in Japanese is known as wanshou (腕章) or from English aamu bando (アームバンド).
It is unknown how the culture of wearing armbands to represent leaders emerged in Japan. But for a long time this culture is like the famous bandana. Leaders, military and important people in history used some sort of bandana to identify themselves. Wearing them is common, so much so that many custom armbands are found in stores in Japan.

Who else wears red armbands in Japan?
Several anime and drama characters present the use of the armband as a leader of school clubs. We can list some important and well-known anime below:
- Katekyo Hitman Reborn's Disciplinary Committee!
- The fan club Oendan of Naru in Love Hina;
- Simon in Gurren Lagann;
- The president and members of the student council in Seitokai Yakuindomo;
- Kuroko from Toaru Kagaku no Railgun wears a green armband.
- Kamado Ueshita from Mirai Nikki uses a yellow with green.

The ouendan (応援団) also often wear a red armband. They are a kind of cheer squad (usually men) who typically make noise with taiko and other instruments, flags and megaphones, with a distinctive performance. There is even a famous game called Osu! where we see many of these ouendan characters.
The game Yandere Simulator also has several club leader characters wearing the traditional red armband that became popular among otaku after Suzumiya Haruhi. One of the characters from the game's/anime Danganronpa uses a red bandana.
Did you know about the red armband culture of leadership in Japan? Do you think there is a problem or something negative to use them in red? Do you remember any other anime or character using it?
Have you noticed that this red bracelet also reminds a bit of the vermelha hachimaki bandana? We appreciate the comments and shares. We recommend reading: