Explained: Why are BTS fans called the ARMY?
7 members of BTS
Whether you’re a new BTS fan or have been one for a long time, you'd know that the K-pop band's fans like to call themselves ARMY. Here in this article,let's try to understand what ARMY means and why BTS gave their fans such an interesting name.
As fans know, ARMY was established as BTS’ fandom name in 2013. This happened almost instantly after the release of the band’s first single “2 Cool 4 Skool.” The word ARMY is an acronym for “Adorable Representative MCFor Youth”, but there are othermeanings to it too.
ARMY is the military while BTS is the armour, which is a metaphor for how the K-pop band and its fans stick together.
As per the famous website USBTSARMY.com, the fandom name “ARMY” also has to do with the meaning of BTS’ full name, “Bangtan Sonyeondan,” which translates to “Bulletproof Boyscouts” in English.
ARMY, however, wasn’t the first choice for BTS’ fandom name. In an interview on The Tonight Showstarring Jimmy Fallon in July 2021, BTS’ rapperRMrevealed that their fandom was almost named “The Bells".BTS's other six members are - Jin, J-Hope, Suga, Jimin, V, and Jungkook.
RM also said,“When you say BTS, it stands for ‘bangtan’ in Korean, not ‘behind-the scenes.’ I mean, for your information, It stands for ‘bangtan,’ and when you say ‘bell’ in Korean, it sounds like ‘bang wool.’ It starts with the same word, ‘bang’. So when we think of the fan name, someone brings up the idea, like, ‘What about the bell thing?’ Everybody rings their bells and [we’re] like, ‘Make some noise!’ and the bells are like ‘ring-a-ling-a-ling.’ But thank God that [it changed], ARMY is so much better.”
WATCH WION LIVE HERE
You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.
