upside down text
HTML
<script src="http://d3js.org/d3.v2.min.js"></script>
<div id='testdiv'></div>
JavaScript
var cfg = {
w:400,
h:400
};
var g = d3.select("#testdiv").append("svg").attr("width", cfg.w).attr("height", cfg.h).append("g")
var arct = d3.svg.arc()
.innerRadius(cfg.h / 5)
.outerRadius(cfg.h / 3)
.startAngle(Math.PI/2)
.endAngle(Math.PI*1.5);
var path = g.append("svg:path")
.attr("id","yyy")
.attr("d", arct)
.style("fill","blue")
.attr("transform", "translate("+cfg.w/2+","+cfg.h/6+")");
var text = g.append("text")
.style("font-size",30)
.style("fill","#F8F8F8")
.attr("dy",35)
.append("textPath")
.attr("xlink:href","#yyy")
.attr("startOffset",50)
.text("some text")
;