Nike's England kit reignites rows over national identity familiar to designers of previous shirts.
England's new kit, modelled by Trent Alexander-Arnold, is billed as "a modern take on a classic white strip"Nike's "playful interpretation" of the St George's Cross on England's new football kit has ignited a row about national identity. Critics have branded the design "disrespectful", among other things, but battles over England shirts have a long and literally colourful back story.
"You can't ignore the fact it's the national symbol and you realise you're dealing with it straight away, I felt that symbol had become marginalised and when I saw it I didn't relate to it. "I wanted the shirt to be for everyone because when the national team are playing it is for everyone. No-one should be excluded.
"As an experience it was quite an anti-climax because I felt there would be some discussion or feedback, but almost nobody talked about it. To some extent because almost nobody noticed it." The reaction was even stronger this week when Nike released its latest England home and away efforts as part of a reported £400m deal with the FA.
The FA has defended the kit and said on Friday: "We are very proud of the red and white St George's cross - the England flag. We understand what it means to our fans, and how it unites and inspires, and it will be displayed prominently at Wembley tomorrow - as it always is - when England play Brazil."
But with the St George's flag becoming more prominent among supporters in the stands from the mid-90s onwards, it is the red cross - or elements of it - which have featured on jerseys from the turn of the century onwards.
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