Archgie (California)
3 Stars and a Sun by Ink Assassin

Its old-fashioned feel and historic charm style are some of the reasons why this type of font is famous and can be seen almost everywhere in the tattoo community. But very little is known on how the Old English Text font started. Nevertheless, one thing can best describe it: it was wonderfully made and developed.

Being compared to the famous Cloister Black by Morris Fuller Benton (1904), the Old English Text is classified under the Serif category as Blackletter and is known for its ornate capital letters and diamond-shaped serifs. Blackletter is one of the main kinds of Gothic letters and characterized with fiddly bits in the middle which are noticeable in Old English Text.

This font designed by William Caslon under Monotype Corporation Foundry is compatible with both Macintosh and Windows operating systems using the TrueType (.ttf) and OpenType (.otf) formats.

Pete (Hawaii)
Pinoy/Pride with Philippine Sun and Stars by Felipe

What’s up with the ambigram? Admit it or not, it started to gain popularity when Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons was released a few years back. The book contains the famous ambigram of Illuminati which, when inverted, reads just the same. But has ambigram something to do with us, Filipinos? Answer is yes.

Ambigram is becoming a famous tattoo subject for most. See Parokya ni Edgar vocalist Chito Miranda’s surname inked on his right arm. In no time, the internet will be bombarded with Filipinos tattooed with ambigram since it is the in-thing.

Since we already are speaking of being a part of the fad, Philippines is now being tagged as a nation of copycats. We have the Pinoy Idol, Survivor Philippines, Kakasa ka bas a Grade 5 and more. We need not to tell you their counterpart. Funny? Not. Whatever happened to Filipino’s creative side?

Gerald Genus (Sac-Town, Cali)
by Cross Creek Tattoo in NC
“Just because it can be seen while I’m in uniform.”

Who else can we think of when we see PINOY PRIDE inked on knuckles? No doubt, it’s just him; the people’s champ, Manny Pacquiao.

PacMan—a professional boxer, recording artist, actor, and politics enthusiast—is rated by the Ring Magazine as world’s #1 pound-for-pound boxer who has won five world titles in five different weight divisions.

Pacquiao also endorses several commercial products, print and broadcast. His biggest yet is Nike’s Fast Forward campaign wherein other sports moguls like Kobe Bryant, Liu Xiang, Maria Sharapova, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Roger Federer starred.

Ranking at 57th in Forbes Magazine’s Celebrity 100 list along with Angelina Jolie and Tiger Woods, who would have thought that this General Santos native used to be a porter who earns less than anyone else?

Indeed, he’s a real Pinoy Pride.

Randy Mack (Hawaii)
Love My Roots by Eguy Ipalari, Waipahu, Hawaii
“Thanks Homeboy. I’m proud of where I came from wherever I may lay down”.

Did you know that the first Philippine map, which was 27 inches wide and 42 inches long, was drawn by Nicolas dela Cruz and Francisco Suarez back in 1734?

Pinoy, a demonym for Filipino people, was first used in the 1920s by Filipino-Americans who were part of the first wave of Filipino migration to the United States. Take out the last four letters of Filipino, pino, and add up the letter Y to form the word. For many, Pinoy is similar to Mexican-American’s usage of Chicano.

No need for us to discuss who forms the roster of the Pinoy Pride. We might want to divert our attention from these already-known Filipino celebrities into the nameless heroes who are continuously giving out their best for the country.

We really can’t get enough of the three stars and the sun. Here are more FYI-must-read about flags, flags, and more flags.

The Philippine flag has been known worldwide as the only flag that is displayed upside-down when the country is in war being the color red on top and the blue at the bottom.

It isn’t only the human being who underwent an evolution, the Pinoy flag did as well. The first flag designed by Andres Bonifacio was called the Bonifacio flag. Then came the Katipunan flag, Llanera’s flag, Pio del Pilar’s flag, and the Magdiwang flag. When finally, then President Manuel L. Quezon standardized the PH flag’s appearance through an executive order in March 25, 1936.

The floors of Aguinaldo Shrine is made up of jigsaw-puzzled flags. The 2003 Oakwood Mutineers wore the Magdalo flag, one of the earlier versions of the recent flag, as an armband.

Stay tuned for more.

im a pinoy born and raised in da U.S. i grew up not knowing about my filipino customs, dont get me wrong, my parents tried to teach it to me but what do u expect,from an americanized youngster growing up in California, north and south. as i grew up i slowly started to get into it little by little. until i ended up in prison! i found out so much inside.now that im out, i understand more now than before, my parents provinces,dialects and my history! most of all my “PRIDE”, to be filipino. before i paroled,sum of da pinoys thats doing life in prison suggested i get some ink done to represent our pinoy pride. so thats what i got done on me “PINOY PRIDE” going down the back of my forearms in lower case old english. i wanted alabata or baybayin done on me but nobody knew how to write in it. anyways i would like to be notified on anything you guys got posted to my email. thanks.. Alex DelosReyes

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Gil from Australia, check out his myspace

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