England kit gives St George’s flag ‘woke’ rebrand
ENGLAND’S new £125 football kit for the European Championship has sparked a row over a multi-coloured St George’s Cross on the back of the collar, with Sir Keir Starmer leading calls for it to be changed to red.
The Labour leader joined MPS from across the political divide in denouncing Nike’s decision to modify the national flag using purple and blue horizontal stripes in what it called a “playful update”. Sir Keir told The Sun’s Youtube channel that the change was wrong, adding: “I’m a big football fan, I go to England games, men and women’s games, and the flag is used by everybody. It is a unifier. It doesn’t need to be changed. We just need to be proud of it.
“So, I think they should just reconsider this and change it back. I’m not even sure they can properly explain why they thought they needed to change in the first place.”
The new strip, which England will wear for the first time in their friendly against Brazil tomorrow, was launched on Monday with a promise to “celebrate football heroes of the past with a modern twist”. Highlighting the “new” flag, Nike wrote online: “A playful update to the St George appears on the collar to unite and inspire.”
The brand said the colour choices for the kit – for which there were no plans to issue a recall – were partly a nod to England’s 1966 World Cup triumph.
A spokesman said: “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 of St George on the back of the collar.”
Sources with knowledge of the shirt’s development categorically denied any connection between the colours and the “One Love” rainbow armband Fifa blocked Harry Kane from wearing in support of the LGBT community during the last World Cup. The change has been condemned by traditionalists, including Nigel Farage and MPS Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-smith. Mr Farage called the design an “absolute joke”, adding on GB News: “It bears no relationship to the St George’s Cross whatsoever. If the England football team think that’s acceptable, well, why on earth would you be apologetic about Englishness if you’re going to play for England in the European football finals? I think it’s an absolute joke.”
Mr Anderson, the Reform MP, dismissed the move as “virtue-signalling woke nonsense”, telling the Daily Express: “The Left have a nerve to ask me why I want my country back.
“This virtue-signalling, nambypamby, pearl-clutching woke nonsense must stop. Any more of this and I’ll be on the first flight to Rwanda.”
The new kits, which will be worn by England men’s, women’s and para teams, cost £124.99 in adult sizes and £119.99 for children.
Mr Clarke-smith, the Tory MP, said: “Maybe somebody in the design department misheard Three Lions and instead went for three lines on a shirt.
“That said, I doubt they’ll shift many at those sort of prices.”
Oliver Brown: Sport, page 4
‘This virtue-signalling, namby-pamby, pearl-clutching woke nonsense must stop’