Random ReiNako head canon:

crunchbuttsteak:

According to the S end credits, Venus didn’t wear the red bow in the Silver Millennium, but she does in the present day.

See, my view is that in the SilMil, Venus and Mars had a mutual attraction thing going on with each other, and they wanted to be together and probably did sleep with each other.  But neither would acknowledge that there was actually a relationship there, because to do so would mean acknowledging that they had broken their duty and put another before the princess.

Venus saw Mars die in the final battle and was just devastated, grabbing the red bow from Mars’ back, she tied it into her hair to remember her by and just went out in a blaze of glory.

And modern day Minako wears that same bow to acknowledge her without realizing it.