England football kit change: Nike 'updates' St George's flag to include blue and pink - fans share thoughts

The England football team have officially unveiled their new home and away shirts which will be worn for the first time in Euro 2024 warm up games, and one key decision in particular has divided the opinion of fans on social media.

Many supporters were left outraged when kit designer, Nike, opted to replace the horizontal line across the traditional red St George's cross with a navy blue, light blue and pink one. Nike had recently claimed that the latest release would "celebrate football heroes of the past with a modern twist”. 

The American sports brand tweeted the launch of the new kit and made specific reference to the ‘new’ flag, writing: ‘a playful update to the St George appears on the collar to unite and inspire.’

The new England men’s kits, available across men’s, women’s and children’s sizes, were released on Thursday (March 21) on the Three Lions official website and are priced at £124.99 for the authentic version and £84.99 for the stadium version.

Some fans had praised the shirt for its similarities to the one worn by Bobby Robson’s men in the 1986 World Cup, while others were left enraged by the new flag. Reform UK MP Lee Anderson claimed the new design was ‘virtue signalling woke nonsense’.

An opinion backed up by former UKIP leader and I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here finalist Nigel Farage, who said: “That’s it, it’s a multicoloured cross, it bears no relationship to the St George’s cross whatsoever. If the England football team thinks 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. It’s an absolute joke.”

TalkSport pundit and former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan also described the new kit as “Meaningless” and insists the FA are “absolutely complicit in this”.

Another X user added: “Can we just have the St George’s flag since that’s who and what we represent.”

Others have defended the kit, claiming that people are overreacting to a change. One fan said: “Why are so many people getting unnecessary wound up over this? Nobody cared in 2011, but I guess then people didn’t try to call everything woke.”