Letters written out in script
 

Does anyone know of a site that has the designs/patterns for all the scripts of the Greek letters? I'm not talking about the fabric choices but the actual letter written in English. These would be the words allowed to be worn by pledges when they can't wear letters until initiation.

greekclothing.com sells t-shirts that can be printed with the spelled-out name of a group.

Pledges aren't members of a fraternity so why let them wear the fraternity's name?

Some women's fraternities have no restriction against their pledges wearing anything affiliated with their group. Some women's fraternities allow their new members to wear letters, but not the crest. Apparently some allow just the wearing of the spelled-out nickname such as "Theta" or "Pi Phi". For all I know, some may not even allow that.

Since there was a resource that someone had found that had all the stitched style of letters as patterns, I was hoping to find a similar resource for the spelled out nicknames.

Women's sororities you mean? I am still not getting this "women's fraternity" thing. It sounds strange, I have never heard of a sorority being called a fraternity, and I was reamed for it in another thread. Oh well.

FYI for everybody...

Officially known as Fraternity
Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Gamma Delta
Alpha Omicron Pi
Alpha Phi
Alpha Xi Delta
Chi Omega
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Gamma
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Kappa Gamma
Phi Mu
Phi Sigma Sigma
Pi Beta Phi
Theta Phi Alpha
Zeta Tau Alpha

Officially known as Sorority
Alpha Delta Pi
Alpha Epsilon Phi
Alpha Sigma Alpha
Alpha Sigma Tau
Delta Phi Epsilon
Delta Zeta
Gamma Phi Beta
Kappa Delta
Sigma Delta Tau
Sigma Kappa
Sigma Sigma Sigma

I'm honestly not 100% sure what qualifies a "fraternity" (and you'd think I would, since I'm IN a women's fraternity), but I think I heard that it has something to do with the rules or the constituation or how something is written. It no longer matters if it's a men's or women's group. There's some criteria which qualifies the word "fraternity" in the official name.

But, like I said, that's just what I've heard...

I'm not sure when your org was founded, but sororities like Phi Mu and ADPi were founded before the word "sorority" was founded, so we are fraternities. No one ever changed it, and I like it because it shows our distinct age. I believe Gamma Phi Beta was the first to use the word sorority... apologies if I'm wrong!

The word "sorority" was created especially for Gamma Phi Beta, founded in 1874. There were already women's fraternities prior to Gamma Phi's founding that already carried the "women's fraternity" name. As far as orgs. founded after Gamma Phi, I'm not sure why some went the women's fraternity route vs. the sorority route -- I'm thinking it was just a personal preference of the Founders.

Yeah, that's probably the case. Like I said, the other thing was just what I'd heard. Alpha Xi Delta was founded in 1893, so that was after "sorority" had come into use. So, there must have been a distinct reason the word "fraternity" was chosen for the official name.

I see now. Confusing I guess. None of the girls I know in the "fraternity" list have ever referred to their respective organizations as "fraternities."

I am not a historian by any means, but I always thought the women's fraternities were designated as such because the word sorority had not been coined.

I think of myself as a member of a women's fraternity. To males and members of other female GLOs, I refer to my group as a sorority.

Here is how it's been explained to me. The word "sorority," coined for my organization, means sisterhood in latin. Some sororities decided that it made no sense to have a greek name, yet adopt the new latin "sorority" label. So, they decided to stick with "fraternity." However since "fraternity" is also latin, I don't understand this explanation.

I think it could just be because "fraternity" was an accepted, well-known term, and so some sororities decided to call themselves "fraternities" because they figured outsiders would better understand what their organization was if they had that label.

Actually, ADPi is a sorority officially.
Not sure when it was added to our official title. May be something to do with when it was incorporated in the state of Georgia?
Forgive my cryptic-ness. It's early!!!

It changed when ADPi became ADPi instead of Alphadelphian (sp?) Society.

In response to Alum's OP:
Do you have Adope Photoshop or some other picture program?
It should be fairly easy to insert text into a blank canvas in a bold script, and make it however large you wanted it to be for your pattern. Depending on your program, you may even be able to make your text be a hollowed out dotted line such as the greek letter patterns are.

Oh for crying out loud in a bucket, when did the PC Panda sit his fat bamboo eating butt down at GC?

macallan, alum likes referring to her group as a "women's fraternity" because it makes her feel superior.

This is one of those things that may vary from group to group.

Even way back when I pledged Delt, pledges could wear the letters (Greek letters or written out), but could not display the crest/coat of arms. That was true of clothing and even on your car.

My impression is that the same was true of pretty much every fraternity, at least on our campus, at that time. Also, at that time, we were required to wear our pledge badges all of the time we were dressed properly -- which was highly recommended. Many of the pledge badges (althoug not ours) had the letters on them. I suppose that would be considered hazing today.


ETA, I don't understand the problem with calling something by it's official name. If a women's group was chartered as a "fraternity," that's what it is, and why not call it such if you want to. I notice that some of the NPHC groups append, "Incorporated" to their names when written. That's good, too, if that's how they want to be known.

actually, no. it became a sorority, because when we changed our name from Alpha Delta Phi to Alpha Delta Pi, it was already 1913, and the term sorority was in use. I would assume that when we made the change from Adelphean to ADPhi in 1905 it was sorority then as well, but I have no clue.

Actually, it is as simple as the fact that we have Articles of Incorporation, so legally we are incorporated. It makes a big difference in obtaining corporate sponsorships for certain activities.

ADPi has never been know as "Alphadelphian". Well, maybe to morons.

Shut up and go away. You're not funny and nobody likes you.

Adelphean...whatever...didn't feel like looking it up at the time.

How about fore runner to ADPi?

Just to be accurate, the word "sorority" is older than that. Sir Thomas More used it in his writings around 1530. Granted, it was never as common a word as "fraternity," but it when it was "coined" in the 1870s for Gamma Phi Beta, the professor who suggested it could have been drawing on a knowledge of More's writings. Of course, he also could have been completely unaware of the previous use of the word and done what someone before him had done -- gone back to the Latin sororitas and anglicized it in a manner similar to fraternitas.
Most if not all GLOs, certainly all national/international ones, are incorporated. I think DA's point was that members of Divine 9 groups often make a point of saying or writing "Incorporated" (or Inc.) when saying the full name of their organizations, whereas members some other groups typically do not, and that the choices of any given org should be respected.

Very good point, and I agree!

macallan25, to supplement OTW's post on page 1, here is an oldie but a goodie:
NPC sororities whose formal name is "Fraternity"

One of my Chi Omega friends explained the "women's fraternity/sorority" thing to me like this.

Many sororities were originally founded as "Little Sister" organizations to a men's fraternity. The term women's fraternity was chosen to distinguish themselves as independent from any men's group.

That is what I was told and it makes sense to me.

Oh yeah? Name them.

Your Chi Omega friend was getting her history muddled and repeating a Greek urban legend,