If you’ve spent time on Twitter in the past few years, you will likely have encountered a member of NAFO- the North Atlantic Fella Organisation. Characterised by their photoshopped Shiba Inu dog[1] profile pictures, NAFO has been expanding across Twitter and into the real world since May 2022 (NAFO, n.d.).
NAFO wasn’t intentionally born. Twitter user @Kama_Kamilia created a new profile picture as a doge meme- what is now known as a “fella”. People asked Kama to create similar pictures for them in exchange for donations to the Georgian Legion (NAFO, n.d.). From here other Twitter users got involved, and the world of fella forging was born.
During my chevrons project, I spoke to a fella forger named Tony. We first met in Lviv back in 2023. His first engagement with supporting Ukraine came in the form of NAFO. By the time I met him, he was regularly forging fellas. Here’s the one he made for me:
When designing a fella, Tony asks what you would like it to be wearing, and what background to use. I wanted my Greggs shirt and denim jacket, and provided a photo of my car. When I received my fella, I was very surprised by how much detail Tony had included. He’d chosen hair and glasses that looked like mine. We’d never discussed my phone, but evidently he’d noticed it as he’d found an image of the exact model and placed it in my fella’s hand.
As his “career” as a fella forger blossomed, Tony has been roped into designing chevrons for a range of causes. As it turns out, he is behind a NAFO image that I have seen in many places- including on sale in Ukraine.
During our interview, we spoke about the design of this chevron. It’s based off of an NROL patch, maintaining the tagline of “Nothing is beyond our reach”.
At the time of its release, the NROL-39 logo caught some flack for being tasteless and emblematic of the overreach of the security services (Atlas Obscura, 2016). Here, it acts as a cheeky nod to NAFO’s unofficial slogan- NAFO expansion is non-negotiable.
This emblem follows the unofficial chevron guidelines which Tony likes to follow. First and foremost, it is family friendly. He dislikes chevrons which could cause offense when worn in public. Secondly, he avoids the use of photographic elements to keep the design as simple as possible for ease of embroidery. Tony admits that he is not great at creating cartoons based on images, so for this one he enlisted the help of his eldest child. The final main rule had to be bent in this design. Tony recommends using as few colours as possible in a single design to make the embroidery cheaper; unfortunately for this design to most accurately match the NROL-39 one, a relatively large number of colours had to be used.
Sometimes, colourful is good! Thanks to his Photoshop skills, Tony has been roped into chevron design for Front Line Kit (FLK)– a group which concentrates on producing drones for military units, but is actively involved in a range of aid projects. Whilst he began with more muted colours, he was encouraged to use more bright colours and explosions.
This process led to the creation of the chevron which is now proudly worn by many volunteers. Amusingly, Tony’s bag has ended up covered in chevrons which he designed himself due to his various affiliations.
For chevrons expected to make it to the front, you’ll often see multiple versions: the bright chevrons suitable for civilian life, and the muted green and brown versions suitable for wearing on the front without giving away your position. As FLK’s drones made it to the front and became more popular, Tony was asked to create a chevron with less bright colours and explosions. During our interview, he joked he was glad he wasn’t in Ukraine at the time or he’d probably have shot himself.
As with the creation of the original design, this one went through several rounds.
Although going through rounds of revisions can be a pain, Tony said that he found it fun. He is keen to point out that he is not a professional graphic designer, he just learned to use Photoshop to make memes. He seemed a bit bewildered by how prolific some of his designs have become. On one of his trips to Ukraine he walked into a bar and saw the FLK emblem on a flag. Another time he saw his designs for sale on a market stall.
In addition to these chevrons, Tony has of course forged a fella of his own and had it made into a physical chevron. He says that his design has been “blessed” by a Shiba Inu dog he met on a bus.
When attending events in Ireland, Tony has been flagged down by passers-by who have seen his NAFO patches. This gave him the opportunity to spread the word about volunteering opportunities in Ukraine. He would follow up these interactions by giving the person a chevron of his fella. It’s a great way of raising awareness of NAFO, and of reminding people that yes the war in Ukraine is still going, and yes the people of Ukraine still need our help.
If you’re interested in volunteering in Ukraine or supporting from a distance, perhaps this is your sign to join NAFO and get a fella made! Tony estimates that over 20,000 fellas have been forged now, with the NAFO community raising massive amounts of money for Ukraine (Wired, 2024).
The easiest way to get a fella forged is to use the official NAFO fella request form, found at: https://nafo-ofan.org/pages/how-to-become-a-fella. Or you could come volunteer in Lviv, and keep an eye out for a man with a Captain Scarlett fella on his bag!
References
Atlas Obscura. (2016, January 20). The Story Behind the Comically Villainous Octopus Logo of U.S. Spy Agency. Retrieved from https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-story-behind-the-comically-villainous-octopus-logo-of-us-spy-agency
NAFO. (n.d.). We Are NAFO. Retrieved from https://nafo-ofan.org/pages/we-are-nafo
Wired. (2024, October 22). The Shitposting Cartoon Dogs Sending Trucks, Drones, and Weapons to Ukraine’s Front Lines. Retrieved from https://www.wired.com/story/nafo-ukraine-russia-war/
[1] Memes using Shiba Inus are generically known as doge memes online
Leave a Reply