Original medal ribbon for the British World War 2 Defence Medal. This is "New-Old-Stock", as in medal ribbon made in the period of initial issue, which was subsequently not cut and issued.
These lengths are being cut from a roll that is dated 7 March 1946.
The green of the ribbon represents Britain's 'green and pleasant land', the black stripes represent the blackout whilst the orange centre stripe represents the flames of the Blitz.