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BEHIND THE STRIPES

Sanithna Phansavanh

By Atlanta United FC

May 6^th, 2025

The history of silk is legendary and ornate, just like the lustrous fabric itself. The industry began in China thousands of years ago. Over time, artisans learned aspects of craft like looming, weaving, and dyeing that would transform the textile into colorful garments and rich tapestries. Production spread throughout the Asian continent, and trade of this highly coveted material led to routes of cultural exchange along the ancient Silk Roads. Its place in the global economy created diversity, intricacy and beauty, all of which are still evident to this day.

Silk was the inspiration behind this year’s Atlanta United scarf that celebrates Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, designed by local artist Sanithna Phansavanh.

His parents' country of Laos, a nation in Southeast Asia landlocked between Thailand and Vietnam, brought both personal and cultural touchpoints to this project. Before setting out, Sanithna took a deep dive into his mother’s closet to do some research. He found traditional Laotian clothing such as pabiang, sashes, and sinh, tubular skirts. People in Laos wear these garments to ceremonies and events.

The elaborate patterns and gold thread found in his mother’s silk pieces became elements for his design.

“I was drawing inspiration from textiles that are representative of Laos,” he said. “There are a lot of silk textiles in Laos that use ornate and intricate designs. I wanted to pull that into the front [of the scarf]. The front is a focus on the Atlanta United logo, then pulling in the embellishments around to support it.”

The back of the scarf is based on another aspect of Southeast Asian culture called Sak Yant tattoos. Warriors and monks ink these marks to their skin for protection and strength.

“You think about athletics, and you think about sport, there's a physicality to it,” Sanithna said. “You want to make sure that there's a cohesive expression of strength together. I was thinking about going to matches and hearing all the chants, and I made this connection to getting the Sak Yant tattoos where the monk is chanting the blessings as he's giving the tattoo. I love that parallel.”

Sanithna is an Atlanta-based artist, raised in the city since he was 3 years old, and he’s been drawing since he was a little kid. First, he sketched interests like skateboarding and comic books. His talent for art flourished, and as he got older, his opportunities expanded.

“When I got to high school, I had an art teacher who really showed me what was possible with art,” he said. “Art could be therapy, it could be commerce, it could be protest, it could be all these sorts of things on the spectrum. Once I saw the possibilities with art, that opened up a lot of doors for me for, whether it was design or fine art or murals.”

“To be a part of an institution of Atlanta is really humbling because I love Atlanta. Atlanta raised me. I’m the person I am today because of Atlanta.”

An Asian artist, Sanithna didn’t see many others who looked like him that he could model himself after. Typically, he said, Asian parents guide their children toward white-collar professions: doctors, lawyers, engineers.

So, to pursue art, Sanithna made his own path.

“Its heartening to see that your heritage doesn't need to define what you do,” he said.

This trailblazing spirit has been nurtured in the Atlanta art scene, and his work has been featured in prominent spots all around the city. Take a walk along the Beltline and you’ll see some of the murals Sanithna painted. He also painted a mural at Mercedes-Benz Stadium a couple of years ago. In 2023, he partnered with Science Gallery Atlanta and MARTA to display Destinations, a dynamic installation on MARTA buses that raises awareness for the role public transit plays in promoting social justice.

“The art community here in Atlanta has a really vibrant scene,” he says. “There are a lot of artists here who are really talented, and they're really pushing the boundaries of art here in the South. The wonderful thing about Atlanta is, because we're not in New York or in LA, we’re able to do our own thing. We're tilling the soil, we're putting our seeds in, and we're growing things on our own terms. It’s an integral part of the culture here in Atlanta. We may not be the vanguard, but we're pushing things as much as we can.”

“I hope that supporters find a little bit of joy and discovery and pride, meeting someone who is a part of the A is a little different.”

Sanithna calls the task of designing a scarf for Atlanta United a part of his fandom here in the city. The Decatur resident has followed the club since the inaugural season when the team played matches at Bobby Dodd Stadium on the campus of Georgia Tech. At one point, he painted a couple of guitars that were given to players honored Man of the Match.

Throughout the scarf are brand symbols that pay homage to the club and tie back to Sanithna’s Lao heritage. The words “Atlanta” and “United” are sewn in the Lao language. In beautiful lettering, featured right in the center, is the number 17 to recognize Atlanta’s loyal and passionate supporters. Sanithna also incorporated an elaborate phoenix, the symbol of Atlanta, which is also featured on the club’s Resurgens kit, a sketch he was able to skillfully recreate with a pen on his notepad in about 60 seconds during his photoshoot.

“To be a part of an institution of Atlanta is really humbling because I love Atlanta. Atlanta raised me. I'm the person I am today because of Atlanta,” he said. “The swagger of the city, the energy, being the cradle of civil rights, these kinds of things factor into my love of the city. To be able to represent the city and my club and my heritage all at once is a really, really magical thing."

“To be able to represent the city and my club and my heritage all at once is a really, really magical thing.”

For the third year, Atlanta United has featured a scarf specific to Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The celebration brings a supporter of Asian heritage into the center and shines a light on their culture, an expression of representation that Sanithna appreciates and feels proud to be a part of:

“That's something that is really beautiful about the beautiful game, right? It's an international game. You get a lot of cross-pollination of cultures. That’s a beautiful thing when you're celebrating what makes everyone unique. I hope supporters can build upon that idea. When we're chanting, ‘We are the A’, that includes everyone. Having that cross-pollination of cultures is a way to educate ourselves and find joy in something that's different.”