A flat ribbon cable, also known as multiplanar cables, are thin cable composed of multiple small-grade cables placed parallel to each other. With each core situated side by side, they form a wide flat cable resembling a piece of ribbon. Where might I use one? This type of cable is mostly used in electronic systems that require multiple data buses to link internal peripherals, such as disk drives to their respective drive controllers. Colour coding is implemented in ribbon cables to avoid reverse connections, with the edge of the cable marked with a red stripe to be connected to pin 1 on the connector.