Native Americans made friendship bands, SRK made them cool

NEW DELHI: Long before Shah Rukh Khan made them the ultimate way of cementing friendship, the Arabians and the Native Americans were using friendship bands. Here's some more gyaan on this now slightly tacky tradition if you thought friendship bracelets were all about finding any opportunity to wave your arms around and let those bands dangle, so that the person sitting next to you saw how popular you were, think again.Turns out friendship bracelets are actually more steeped in history than the day that they've be come synonymous with now.
Where did they come from?
As macrame — a type of textile-making that uses knots instead of weaving and is used to make these bracelets­ originated in Arabia in the 13th century, some believe they originated here.
The most probable theory is that these bracelets came from Native American societies, where it was a symbol of the bond be tween two people. The wearer couldn't remove it as she/he had to honour the maker's efforts. A less romanticized theory is that sailors made them to practice the half knot and square knot, which are essential to nautical life.
What do they symbolize?
Besides the fact that the person whose wrist you tie it on will be your BFF forever and ever, friendship bracelets have certain (often quirky) beliefs associated with them. The cardinal rule, apparently, is that you have to let the bracelet fall off naturally . If you remove it, the friendship will turn sour. If they have beads knotted into them, you can make a wish at the time it's tied to your wrist. Think about your wish every day and these beads will (again, apparently) store the energy of your thoughts. When the bracelet finally falls off, the energy will be released and your wish will come true. But before you think you've found an easy way to get money, love or a PS4, remember that this method hasn't, in fact, been scientifically proven.
A bracelet's colours are meant to represent your friend's personality. Pink symbolizes kindness, orange is for vibrant sexuality, green for youthfulness and red for honesty and passion. Now, your question probably is, "But what about that friend who only calls me when they need a favour?" Apparently, those kinds of friends are taken care of too. Yellow, which is popularly associated with cheer and hope, can also indicate jealousy, while a black and yellow bracelet symbolizes evil!
Can guys wear them too?
Naturally, bracelets are too girly an accessory for men, so a parallel piece of ultra-masculine jewellery for the tougher gender is a 'brocelet' or what one 'bro' gives another. And while guys making brocelets for each other might sound a little... offbeat, what's even more offbeat is that the idea seems to have taken off. The most famous example is Tom Hardy admitting he made Mel Gibson a brocelet after he took over the titular role in the Mad Max series.
They were also popularized by Johnny Depp in the 90s, who wore them to reflect his quirky personality (because naturally, the whack job roles he took on weren't a good enough indicator).