World Ampersand Day (SEPTEMBER 8)

for­mer­ly Nation­al Amper­sand Day

ChazHead128x128

Hel­lo & thanks for stop­ping by. I’m Chaz DeS­i­mone, founder of AmperArt.

A year or two after cre­at­ing Amper­Art, I dis­cov­ered a very inter­est­ing & enter­tain­ing web­site, Nation​al​Day​Cal​en​dar​.com, which gave me the idea to “acknowl­edge & applaud the amper­sand” with its own spe­cial day & des­ig­nat­ed Sep­tem­ber 8 as Nation­al Amper­sand Day. In 2022 the des­ig­na­tion was changed to World Amper­sand Day. (The amper­sand, as it turns out, attracts Amper​Art​.com sub­scribers from around the world.) I appre­ci­ate how accom­mo­dat­ing & effort­less the staff at Nation­al Day Cal­en­dar was in chang­ing the des­ig­na­tion of Nation­al to World. They even said it was a good idea, which was a nice val­i­da­tion. The offi­cial logo remains the same, with the updat­ed “world” designation:

World Ampersand Day logo

Why this par­tic­u­lar date? It was appar­ent sev­er­al of the char­ac­ters in “Sep­tem­ber 8” can be clev­er­ly dis­guised as amper­sands when cer­tain fonts are used like this, as per­ceived and cre­at­ed by Chaz DeSimone:

SEPTEMBER 8 spelled with ampersands

For you typophiles & hard­core amper­fans, here are the fonts & font fam­i­lies used for the amper­sands in the SEPTEMBER 8 ampergram†:

SEPTEMBER 8 spelled with ampersands

*Each “letter” spelling out SEPTEMBER 8 (World Ampersand Day) is actually an ampersand set in the font stated underneath, except for P & M which are actual character glyphs, not intended to resemble ampersands & set in Optima to“blend in” with the other styles.
If you know of any fonts where the ampersand resembles a P, M or R, let me know. Nancy Upper, ampersand historian & long-​time AmperArt subscriber, found one, contributing the Sophia font ampersand to perfectly represent the R. Thanks, Nancy!
Logo & chart ©2015, 2022 Chaz DeSimone
All rights reserved.
May be reproduced & redistributed
intact with credit attributed to:
Chaz DeSimone, Amper​Art​.com

†A typogram is the delib­er­ate use of typog­ra­phy to express an idea visu­al­ly, such as “adddi­tion” &UPPER&lowercase.” The above ren­dered “SEPTEMBER 8” would be a true typogram if it spelled “AMPERSAND” with amper­sands, but since there’s no term for spelling a date with amper­sands we’ll call this an amper­gram. All right, Mr. Webster?


 World Ampersand Day logo

While we’re at it, here are the font fam­i­lies used in the offi­cial World Amper­sand Day logo. We’re using the for­mer Nation­al Amper­sand Day logo for demonstration:

National Ampersand Day logo type specs


Do you know any September 8 birthdays?Happy Ampersand Birthday

Do you know a Birth­day Boy or a Birth­day Girl whose spe­cial day falls on World Amper­sand Day, Sep­tem­ber 8? Send them this link to their own Birth­day Page fea­tur­ing the styl­ish greet­ing you see above & fun facts about the ampersand:

amper​art​.com/​h​a​p​p​y​-​b​i​r​t​h​d​a​y​-​a​m​p​e​r​s​a​n​d​-​day


MORE ABOUT THE AMPERSAND:

Did You Know…

&  The amper­sand used to be the last let­ter of the alphabet?

&  The amper­sand is a lig­a­ture of “e&t”? That’s et in Latin, mean­ing “and.”

&  The word “amper­sand” is a slur­ring of “real words” run togeth­er over time?

&  The plus sign is actu­al­ly an ampersand?

Read about these & oth­er fun facts here.

ENJOY THE FUN & FABULOUS AMPERSAND
SUBSCRIBE HERE

Celebrate the Ampersand

Cel­e­brate Nation­al Amper­sand Day by hav­ing fun with it:

&  Use lots & lots of ampersands!

&  Sub­sti­tute “&” for “and” in every­thing you write.

&  Think of syl­la­ble replace­ments such as &roid, c&elabra, b&.

&  Send friends whose names con­tain “and” a spe­cial note — &y, &rea, Alex&er, Gr&ma.

&  Design new styles of amper­sands. (Remem­ber, the amper­sand rep­re­sents the let­ters “et.”)

&  Use #Amper­sand­Day & #Amper­Art on social media.

&  Tell your friends to vis­it Amper​Art​.com.

&  Send any­one whose birth­day is Sep­tem­ber 8 this Hap­py Birth­day link:
amper​art​.com/​h​a​p​p​y​-​b​i​r​t​h​d​a​y​-​a​m​p​e​r​s​a​n​d​-​day

Every Day Is Special

Vis­it Nation­al Day Cal­en­dar to see all the observed days of the year. Which one falls on your birthday?

There are cel­e­bra­tions for:

  • Nation­al Cream Puff Day
  • Nation­al Rub­ber Ducky Day
  • Nation­al Hat Day
  • Nation­al Show­er with a Friend Day
  • Nation­al Home­made Soup Day
  • Nation­al Bagel Day
  • Nation­al Hug a G.I. Day
  • Naiton­al Proof­read­ing Day
  • Nation­al Bar­bie Day
  • World Autism Aware­ness Day
  • Nation­al Peanut But­ter & Jel­ly Day
  • Nation­al Tweed Day
  • Nation­al Star Wars Day
  • Nation­al Car­toon­ists Day
  • Nation­al Bike to School Day
  • Nation­al Olive Day
  • Nation­al Go Bare­foot Day
  • Nation­al Weed Your Gar­den Day
  • Nation­al Beans ‘N’ Franks Day
  • Nation­al Coun­try Music Day
  • Nation­al Nude Day
  • Nation­al Root Beer Float Day
  • Nation­al Col­or­ing Book Day
  • Nation­al Coast Guard Day
  • Nation­al Beer Lovers Day
  • Nation­al Hug Your Boss Day
  • Nation­al Swap Ideas Day
  • Nation­al Home­made Cook­ies Day
  • Nation­al Good & Plen­ty Day
  • Nation­al Techies Day
  • Nation­al Mad Hat­ter Day
  • Nation­al Par­ents as Teach­ers Day
  • Nation­al Cap­puc­ci­no Day
  • Nation­al Cook For Your Pets Day
  • Nation­al Vio­lin Day
  • Nation­al Black Cat Day
  • Nation­al Card Play­ing Day
  • Nation­al Cham­pagne Day

…and many more.

Order a Nation­al Day Wall Cal­en­dar or sub­scribe to their free announce­ment emails & nev­er miss one of your favorite Nation­al Days again. Find your favorite days to cel­e­brate at Nation​al​Day​Cal​en​dar​.com.


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