Nike are facing backlash from furious football fans for altering St George’s flag on the new England kit that the team will wear tonight as the play Brazil but it’s not the first time as Umbro also tampered with the flag on their 2011/12 kit.
Umbro held a deal with England before Nike and designed the kit for Euro 2012 featuring St George’s flag in four different colours across the upper back of the shirt in red, blue, green and purple.
The idea behind the multi-colour crosses was thought up by designer Peter Saville and Umbro to represent the countries cultural diversity – similar to the sentiment behind Nike’s – and was met little to no response from fans.
Umbro then released a special edition version of the home kit with the multi-colour crosses scattered across the whole shirt which, again, was met with zero uproar.
The Euro 2021 England kit designed by Umbro and Peter Saville featuring St George’s flag in four different colours across the upper back of the shirt in red, blue, green and purple
The special edition Euro 2021 home kit with the multi-colour crosses scattered across the whole shirt
It is a stark contrast to the reaction from fans over Nike’s new home and away shirts which many have expressed anger over as they believe St George’s flag should not be tampered with out of respect and patriotism.
Even Prime Minister Rishi Sunak disproves as he told reporters: ‘When it comes to our national flags, we shouldn’t mess with them because they’re a source of pride, identity, who we are, and they’re perfect as they are.’
The design released on Monday ahead of the Euro 2024 in Germany features a blue, purple and red rendition of the cross on the collar which Nike described as a ‘playful update’ but many fans and commentators have slammed it as ‘woke’.
Nike’s new England kit released on Monday ahead of the Euro 2024 in Germany features a blue, purple and red rendition of the cross on the collar
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (pictured in Derbyshire yesterday) said ‘don’t mess’ with the flag and that he ‘prefers the original’ England shirt
Former England star Chris Sutton had some harsh criticisms for the design on his podcast It’s All Kicking Off with Ian Ladyman.
Ladyman referenced Nike’s explanation that the ‘playful update’ is meant to ‘unite and inpire’, to which Sutton said: ‘It’s such a load of b*****s though isn’t it? To unite and what? Inspire. To unite and inspire by changing a flag? So it’s not the Cross of St George’.
However it’s not just the older generation who rebuke the shirt as at its first official outing in an international match yesterday young England star Harvey Elliot, 20, hid the ‘woke’ flag by turning up his collar at the under-21 qualifier in Baku where England won 5-0 over Azerbaijan.
Other critics of the new kit include Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, broadcaster and former politician Nigel Farage, former FA manager Adrian Bevington, former England star David Seaman and Reform UK MP Lee Anderson to name just a few.
Sutton (left) and co-host, Ian Ladyman (right), on their It’s All Kicking Off Podcast where Sutton called the new shirt ‘a load of b*****s’
Harvey Elliott’s collar was up for the entire game in Baku – the shirt’s first ever outing in international football with the senior playing in it tomorrow at Wembley against Brazil
England manager Gareth Southgate said that the Three Lions crest is the most important part of the team’s shirt and not the ‘artistic take’ on the St George’s cross.
He said: ‘In my head, if it’s not a red cross on a white background, it isn’t the Cross of St George anyway’.
In a statement issued yesterday in response to the criticism Nike said: ‘We have been a proud partner of the FA since 2012 and understand the significance and importance of the St George’s Cross and it was never our intention to offend, given what it means to England fans.
‘Together with the FA, the intention was to celebrate the heroes of 1966 and their achievements.
‘The trim on the cuffs takes its cues from the training gear worn by England’s 1966 heroes, with a gradient of blues and reds topped with purple.
‘The same colours also feature an interpretation of the flag on the back of the collar.’