According to the United Kennel Club, to be a purple ribbon pit bull, all of the dog's ancestors going back three generations must be registered with the UKC. This involves verifying the pedigrees of parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.
The United Kennel Club identifies the pit bull as the American Staffordshire terrier. However, the purple ribbon label applies to any breed of dogs. A dog with this pedigree has "PR" at the beginning of its name, followed by a comma. If both of a dog's parents are registered with purple ribbon distinctions, the offspring has a complete "Seven Generation" pedigree. This requires knowing the lineage of 254 ancestors.