Since the launch of England’s Euro 2024 kits, people up and down the country have been incensed by manufacturer Nike’s decision to meddle with the Cross of St George, found at the back of the shirt’s collar.
The cross is traditionally red down the centre, but then the horizontal part of the cross is a combination of two shades of blue and a shade of purple.
It has sparked outrage in households across England, during radio phone-ins and even in political circles.
Sir Keir Starmer told the Sun’s Never Mind the Ballots YouTube show that “the flag is used by everybody, it’s unifying, it doesn’t need to change.
“We just need to be proud of it. So I think they should just reconsider this and change it back.”
Now callers to Nicky Campbell’s BBC Radio 5 Live show have traded verbal blows over the controversial redesign.
Some callers have branded the move a “disgrace”, while others have demanded fans “boycott” the shirt. However, others said they thought the row over the flag on the collar was “hilarious”, saying they don’t “understand” the furore.
Chairing the phone-in, Scottish BBC host Nicky Campbell said: “There’s actually a lot going on under the surface of this row”.
He went on: “It’s a proxy to the whole ‘my country’s disappearing” debate. Some of you think that, some of you don’t.”
Later in the show, Mr Campbell referenced that many critics of the flag branded it “woke”.
In one furious exchange, PJ in Leicester told Mr Campbell the flag redesign was “a disgrace”.
“I’m furious, I think it’s a disgrace”, he said. “You can do what you like to the kit [but] it’s a national team and we have a national flag – it’s quite simple. The flag represents England, as will the team on the pitch.”
Later in the discussion, he added: “I think we should just say no to the shirt, let’s go out there, fly the flag, and hopefully win the competition.”
Firing back, Abbie in Cheltenham, said: “I am quite interested in how you both think this will affect the football and does affect the game and how that’s going to play out, because I’m struggling to understand how…I think it’s a small symbol on the back of a collar.”
A third caller hit back: “It may be small in size but I think the significance of it for many people is far, far greater than that and I think already the response to it indicates that it means more than the small symbol that you’re indicating there. It’s a huge representation of what it is to be an England football fan.”
In a statement, Nike said: “The England 2024 Home kit disrupts history with a modern take on a classic. 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.”
