I’m aware that not all members of the JustArsenal family are English, but wherever readers are from, you will all possess a different level of patriotism.
Some will be able to relate to the outcry in England, by some, regarding Nike changing the colours of the Saint George’s flag on the new Three Lions kit. Others won’t be offended at all.
It’s worth noting that in the UK, politicians have got involved in the debate.
There are some countries I can think of where there would be a national outcry if their flag was tampered with in any fashion.
To defend Nike, this wasn’t the manufacturer being ‘woke ‘ as some assumed, simply an attempt to be original. An American company, they have zero emotional attachment to the design.
Nike said: “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.”
If anyone should be held responsible, it should be the FA who would have had to approve the finished product. Both parties insist the dark blue and purple stripes are a tribute to the 1966 World Winners as that was the colour of their training tops.
I find it hard to fathom that no one from the Football Association sat in that meeting and didn’t forecast that the change from tradition would divide the public.
It would be like Adidas ignoring Arsenal’s history of wearing red at home and yellow away.
In the world of cancel culture, I do admire both organisations refusal to be pressured into making alterations.
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure an image under the collar existed if it hadn’t been reported. Which might make this a clever business campaign?
Any publicity is good publicity?
Would this many people (including this article) be talking about the release of the shirt if the cross remained red on a white background?
It wouldn’t surprise me if what logo is on back of your collar becomes the new selling point for future releases for kits domestically and internationally.
Owners of clubs might even treat it as a fresh sponsorship opportunity, like some now have separate advertisers on the sleeves.
Accepting that they have not been pressured by any one group, I’m not offended like some of my peers.
It’s not like I go to Wembley and don’t see the colours of my flag flying proudly.
Maybe bigger things in the world to worry about in the world?
What if Arsenal colours got messed with though? What would be your opinion?
Dan Smith
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Some sad people out there are really offended by this. My heart breaks for them😜.
And I’m English.
I’m offended Jax so that makes me sad in your eyes.
It’s not our national flag so if it isn’t going to be properly replicated or respected, then my suggestion would be to have 3 lions in the style of the Simba from Lion King which would be fitting- particularly for the kids’ shirts
*Simba from the Lion King
I agree SueP, this is our national flag and represents the country of England.
Whars as big a scandal is the price of an adult shirt at £140 and Junior shirt at (I believe) £110!!!
At least we don’t have to buy one, but imagine if the Kronkies decided to change our club emblem without consulting the supporters and banishing the motto…… hang on they have!!
Victoria Concordia Crescit seems So APT at the moment.
Can’t understand the reasoning behind it. Didn’t they realise it would be controversial? Obviously not.
As controversial is the cost per shirt, didn’t know it was £118, absolute daylight robbery. Anyway those that feel strongly against it won’t buy the shirt so not good marketing then.
Dan
In reply to your article rather than focusing on the offending logo, how would you feel if the canon became a blunderbuss? Or we played in blue in yellow as our home kit?
It’s all about getting the punter to buy, buy, buy! And for Nike/Adidas and the like to come up with something new to tempt the gormless peeps who are happy to part with their hard earned money.
An intersting point the writer makes about NIKE anticipating the massive publicity this deliberate charade to the English flag would make. Many say that all PUBLICITY is good for financial profits. And in that key line, I suspect wefind the REAL reason for the furore that IMO Nike have deliberately sought to achieve, even while , hypocritically, claiming they meant to offend no one.
I start from the standpoint that I trust NO corporate entity on Planet EARTH.and am convincedethat all their execs worship one God only; BOTTOM LINE COMPANY PROFITS.
IMO, such executives are the scum of the EARTH!
If Arsenal changed coulurs and it was for a good reason I wouldn’t mind. They recently had the No More Red campaign where the kit was all white, for their campaign against youth knife violence. I completely support the change of kit or badge colour and see no problem in it. Same goes for the England flag. The same people crying that the flag has been desecrated are the same people that say nothing at the hundreds of flags at every England game that have been spray canned, is that not descration of the flag? These are the same people that say they are English because they’ve traced their roots back and they are Anglo-Saxon, yet when you ask them they don’t know where Saxony is!? Gentle reminder to them… Three Lions, the lions where from Africa. Or maybe when they are singing God save the Queen, they don’t realise the Queen was the head of the church and Jesus Christ was a foreigner from the Middle East, some 3,000 miles away but wait, it’s unpatriotic to change the colour of an emblem on the football shirt. It’s just the small minded bigots trying to give it a stir. Same people that will tell me I can’t support England because I’m a Londonor born to immigrant parents. Nonsense. I’m an England fan no matter what colour the Emblem on the shirt is this year.
I think you’re overstating it ever so slightly AndyE. This is more about people getting offended by a bit of nonsense created in reported good humour by Nike.
Jax
This all reminds me of the crazy tail fin styles brought in by our national carrier back in the Thatcher era. It cost millions to introduce and nobody knew it was British Airways which rather defeats the object. Thatcher put her scarf over a model of one and the BA tail fins now bear a logo that suggests its British company. What can be so wrong with advertising who we are and not what marketing types think we are? I’m not outraged by the new design as a piece of work, but what is its message? That we are hiding our nationality?
Sue, I doubt that we’d be hiding our nationality with the three lions on the front. I’m not convinced that Nike were making a message, other than messing with us for a laugh.
Of course, it could have been a huge error😜.
I don’t remember that BA & Thatcher stuff. She was your MP wasn’t she?
She was where I went to school- Finchley
My MP was Barnet and another Tory
What’s interesting about your post Jax is that it appears you associate the 3 lions logo with being English more than the flag
Because we are made up of 4 nations when we play individually we have a different logo. Isn’t it Roses in rugby?
The difference between us is that I’m happier for the Nike peeps to interpret a rose or lions, but I’m touchier about our national flag being tampered with
Interesting topic though