What does the multi color grid on soldiers uniforms mean?

The ribbons are all different. Some are distinguished service awards, some are meritorious duty awards, some are for serving during war time, some are for where you served, some are for bravery or valor…you get the idea. Every award has a different meaning. And on top of that some of them, like the meritorious duty award, can be received over and over. When that happens there is a small star that is added to the ribbon.

Here is a picture of the awards someone in the US Navy could receive.

Does every soldier have at least one ribbon after graduating basic training or something? It just seems like it would be sad to have no ribbons at all.

^No, not every soldier or sailor gets a ribbon after graduating boot camp. It usually takes more than that. I ended up with several ribbons when I got out but went a couple years before I got any. I had a good conduct medal (with stars), a Navy expeditionary medal, Navy E ribbon (with star), a meritorious unit commendation and a Navy unit commendation. That’s all I can remember. But all of those came after I got to the fleet (out of schools). So I was in for 2 years before I got those.