Last week, I got to riff on my fascination with Filipino Heritage Nights across professional sports leagues. As it turns out I have a lot of takes–especially when it comes to the design of the giveaway merch and apparel.
Some ground we’ve already covered:
I’m really ready for some teams to think beyond the sun and stars when it comes to design. It’s a cool flag, and there’s still lots of examples of teams making it look good. But give me something fresh!
Without being a huge Filipino-American hub or having any Filipino players, there hasn’t been much incentive for my Phillies to participate… but being able to play with the name could create some fun opportunities.
The NFL has been a total dud. Granted, the 16 game season doesn’t allow for as many themed games, but still. Would love to see the Niners or Cam Bynum’s Vikings take the reins here.
Anyways, this time around, let’s explore the teams doing it right. I already highlighted some well-designed items from the Golden State Valkyries, Vancouver Bandits, and Chicago Bulls.
But, there’s even more where that came from!
The Best
The Mariners vs The Yankees
Going back to Griffey in ‘95 and A-Rod in ‘01, things always get interesting when these teams square off. But who has the upper hand when it comes to Filipino Heritage Night?
The Mariners have a lot going for them. I already highlighted the Verified Asian vlog declaring the Mariners to have The BEST Filipino Heritage Night in Sports. And they’ve got a good case, between the sisig nachos and rally tabo. But the thing that really seemed to seal the deal was the giveaway jacket. A classic satin-looking dugout jacket in a royal blue with red trim and the Mariners’ cap logo on top of a yellow sun. Chef’s kiss material.
But that was months ago, and later in the baseball season, the Yankees unveiled their merch.
The Yankees don’t often play the role of the underdog. But they carry a lot of disadvantages into a Filipino Heritage Night design-off. They are hands-down one of the most conservative teams when it comes to design, rarely veering from their century-old iconic styles. They’ve shunned the idea of mascots and city connect jerseys.
But when it comes to Filipino Heritage Night, they unveiled a jacket not too unlike the Mariners. The classic NY on top of the sun in the same chest position. The jacket itself was navy with a white trim, sticking with team colors rather than the Philippine flag. HOWEVER- the flag was saved for the inside. The jacket was reversible, and flipping it meant the back was an entire flag.
As someone who rarely speaks positively about the Yankees… it was pretty good.
So who comes out on top? I’m gonna cast my vote for Seattle on this one. It’s close. But the Yankees used a template that the Mariners were the ones to establish as a hit. But nicely done to both teams.
The DJ Javier Collabs
DJ Javier is a Filipino-American illustrator based in Santa Barbara, meaning most of his sports allegiances lie with LA. Thankfully, the teams love him back.
In 2024, he was the creative mind behind the LA Kings’ Filipino Heritage Night, easily establishing it as the best in the NHL. His illustrations combined his personal style with batok tattoo art and hockey. Simply put, it looked good. And the team did well in highlighting the artist’s own story.
Later, LAFC let DJ Javier do a Filipino inspired shirt design for AAPI Heritage Month, which was a similar win.
I can only imagine how hyped I’d be for these designs if I were actually a fan of these teams.
Washington Nationals
In August 2025, The Washington Nationals honored FIlipino Heritage Day for the fifth time. Previous giveaways were guilty of forcing a marriage between the Philippine flag and the team jersey, resulting in something a bit too loud and uninspired.
But this time around, they delivered.
They went with an all black-and-white bomber jacket. I guess the trend is that jackets do really well as a giveaway item. It kept the design mostly restrained except for the back, where the W logo became a canvas for a whole collage.
The back logo included FIlipino and American flags, Washington DC landmarks, tinikling dancers, jeepneys, tricycles, a carabao, and a bahay kubo. It was vibrant, brilliant, and balanced. My one and only complaint is not being a fan of the Walgreens’ W logo, but that’s not a problem meant to be solved by Filipino Heritage Night.
Norfolk Tandangs
In my last entry, I applauded the Norfolk Tides’ one-day rebrand as the Norfolk Lumpia to honor the 44,000 Filipinos that live in its surrounding communities. Then they outdid themselves. For Filipino Heritage Night, they rebranded as the Norfolk Tandangs, to pay homage to the Filipino fighting rooster… among other things.
Their social media unveil showed that they did their homework.
The coloring and design elements honored things like the walis tingting, batok tattoos, and the barong.
Lots of great tie-in merch was also released.
Sampaguita Kit
My favorite Filipino Heritage Jersey of 2025 came from the US’s second soccer league– USL League One.
If you’re not paying attention to the USL, you’re missing on some of the best kits in all of football, courtesy of design partner Hummel.
I was a bit surprised when I saw that Forward Madison from Madison, Wisconsin was the team going hardest for Filipino swag as part of AAPI Heritage Month. I mean, Filipinos are everywhere, but still. Madison’s not quite a hub.
They do have some active Filipino nonprofits, like PAMANA, that aims to keep the connection between the Philippines and residents of Central Wisconsin with Filipino ancestry. They also have a goalkeeper, Bernd Schipmann, who plays on the Philippine National Team.
Forward Madison partnered with PAMANA to unveil two Filipino keeper kits. The first was a vibrant yellow, inspired by the sun. It was nice, but the one I had to purchase for myself was the mint green Sampaguita Kit, named after the Philippines’ national flower.
One of my favorite indulgences time-to-time are extremely niche soccer jerseys and this is why.
Suggestion Box
As I’ve said a few different times now, Filipino culture gives you no shortage of visual inspiration. There’s a depth of references to be used. Designers have no need to get hung up on the sun and stars.
Here are a few ideas that I’d love to see some teams indulge.
Jollibee Collabs
Okay, this one might be the most complicated because it requires the participation of a corporate partner… but trust me, Filipinos would absolutely rock a Jollibee parody of your teams logo.
This Knicks example is actual streetwear, a collab between Mga Bagay and Barkada. I don’t even root for the Knicks and I’ve got to admit, that’s a good look. Bonus points if the Charlotte Hornets get in on this as the team that comes closest to having a bee logo.
The Banaue Rice Terraces
I came up with this idea for the Utah Jazz and the Jazz specifically.
Of all the pro-sports hubs that have Filipino populations, Salt Lake City isn’t particularly high. BUT. For many years, Jordan Clarkson balled in Utah. Filipinos love Clarkson. There were ads in the Philippines for a long time starring impressionists of LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Jordan Clarkson. It’s like that.
The Jazz throwback mountain jerseys are some of my favorites. So I decided to play with a design that turned those mountains into the Banaue Rice Terraces, one of the Philippines’ more iconic land formations.
Batok & Barong
I love the stories, traditions, and art in the Filipino art of tattooing. I’m a bit biased, I guess. I’ve been wearing a batok piece on my arm for years.
The tattoos are a deeper cut, as far as Filipino references go. But when teams have leaned into it, it’s typically worked out well! DJ Javier used the design element in both his LAFC and LA Kings pieces. The Norfolk Tandang made it work really well as a trim. I whipped up this sketch of what it might look like to play with the White Sox’ sock logo. Could work for the Red Sox dual sock logo too… but Chicago’s the bigger Filipino hub.
Meanwhile, one of the good examples I threw out last week was the San Francisco Giants’ barong jersey. What about actually stiching on a barong? Trying it out on Atlanta United to rep ATL’s Filipinos.
Baybayin
The traditional Filipino script is visually gorgeous. And its fluid strokes lend themselves well to the traditional athletic cursive.
In the LA area, I’ve seen some Filipino streetwear add a Baybayin Dodgers’ logo. Not gonna lie, it looks good.
I’ve already mentioned how I’m hopeful to one day see some Filipino Phillies gear, so I decided to give it a shot on their cream alternates.
If you’ve made it all the way this far… and especially if you’ve read both of my Filipino Heritage Night posts, you’re a real one! Seriously. If you did that because you share this same very niche interest, we’d probably be good friends.
Or maybe, we’re already good friends and you read all this to humor me. Either way, you’re a real one.