OL Reign Set to Wear Latinx Heritage Month Captain Armband

Throughout the season, OL Reign has proudly displayed themed captain armbands to celebrate different occasions on the field. Most recently, the captain armband was a design to celebrate and promote Black-owned businesses in the month of August. As OL Reign enters the month of September, the captain armband will celebrate Latinx Heritage Month.

Latinx Heritage Month recognizes, honors and celebrates the importance of Latinx Americans, as well as their culture and contributions to the U.S. This month, spanning officially from September 15 to October 15 first began in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage week, established by President Lyndon Johnson. It was expanded to cover a 30-day period in 1988 and is now officially recognized as September 15 to October 15. The mid-September start date was chosen because it is anniversary of independence for many Latin countries.

Leading the design efforts for this month’s armband was OL Reign Equipment Manager, Isabella Pino. As a Latina woman, it was important to Pino that the design for this month reflected Latinx culture, which is often forgotten or portrayed using stereotypes. She worked in tandem with OL Reign’s Associate General Manager, Santiago Gallo, as well as OL Reign’s Latina players – Angelina, Marley Canales, Jimena Lopez and Sofia Huerta to finalize the design.

 “We felt that the design of the armband best represents and celebrates all of the cultures that are living here in the United States,” said Pino.

The striking design is punctuated by vibrant colors all around the band. The green, pink, blue and yellow are prominent colors in Latin country flags and work well together in the design. Often times, Latinx Heritage Month designs feature the same artwork, consisting of banners and the typical Mexican Día de los Muertos type flowers and skulls. The design of OL Reign’s armband less common, abstract shapes and colors to represent all Hispanic countries and cultures.

The abstract shapes across the background of the band represent the flowers, bodies of water, mountains and landscapes that that makeup and connect the different Latin countries, all together in unity.

The edges of the captain armband are adorned with a lace pattern, which represents ñanduti. Ñanduti means spider web in Guarani, the Paraguayan lace decorations Pino’s mom brought with her from her country when she came to the United States. The lace pattern also bears a resemblance to artwork from other Latin countries.

The text on the armband displays the names of all of OL Reign’s Latina players, as well as the club’s logo and “Bold Together” tagline in different languages. The color of the text is brown, to proudly represent the color of our Latinx players’ and staffs’ skin. 

 “All in all, I wanted to display something different than the stereotypical designs that are made for us. The aim was to create something that could mean something to all Latinx people and allow them to see their own tributes in the design,” said Pino.