Jersey HOUND

CZECH REPUBLIC | 2018-19

SINCE CZECHOSLOVAKIA SPLIT IN 1993, the Czech Republic team has donned the new nation’s coat of arms as its logo. But as the years went by, it also became legally thorny. The 2016 World Cup jersey had to be changed because the first crest only featured the double-tailed lion, not the eagle (that’s against Czech law). And because the team’s logo was a sovereign symbol, it was also hard to clamp down on counterfeits. So now, the Czechs have a new lion, and I like it. The design is attractive, and there are plenty of Easter eggs: for example, the eye is shaped like Stvanice Island, site of the nation’s first artificial ice pad and first World Championship title.