In Latin they wrote V for what we today would pronounce U. During the American Renaissance, architects used the old latin alphabet, which had no U. That's why

In Latin they wrote V for what we today would pronounce U. During the American Renaissance, architects used the old latin alphabet, which had no U. That's why you see things like PVBLIC LIBRARY in old cities. Eg: http://i.imgur.com/p4RS9My.jpg http://i.imgur.com/p4RS9My.jpg So, "Svbtle" is "Subtle" and "Bvlgari" is "Bulgari" etc. U and V have a long complicated history. If you'd like to learn more: http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/scripts/letters/historyuv.htm http://medievalwriting.50megs.com/scripts/letters/historyuv....