Uproar over new England kit flag shows football fans have very short term memories

We’ve got something else to add to the long list of things right-wingers are accusing of being too “woke” – this time, it’s the "playful update" to the St George's Flag on the new England shirt - but fans should look at a similar design that didn't cause any problems in 2010.

Nike has unveiled the new Three Lions home kit ahead of the Euros, and people are getting themselves worked up about the choice of colours.

It’s mostly white, as you’d expect, and the St George’s flag has been interpolated with various shades of blue and pink, rather than the usual red.

The new design has been created to “celebrate football heroes of the past with a modern twist” and “unite and inspire” fans.

But people aren’t happy, presumably about pink being used in the design.

Lee Anderson MP expressed his thoughts at the kit when speaking to the Daily Express, saying: “The left have a nerve to ask me why I want my country back.

“This virtue signalling, namby-pamby, pearl-clutching woke nonsense must stop. Any more of this and I'll be on the first flight to Rwanda.”

Elsewhere, Labour leader Keir Starmer told Nike to "reconsider" the decision as he believes the flag is a "unifier."

Another disgruntled social media user wrote: “This is how a St George’s Cross should be displayed on an England shirt !!! To the woke weak design team of the new shirt , you are a DISGRACE !!”

Another said: “Shame you have gone woke by defacing the St Georges cross on the back. Won't be buying will get a retro shirt out, they look better anyway.”

It's difficult to see how people could get so worked up about something so small. As one user pointed out on Twitter/X, England did exactly the same thing in 2010 and added crosses in colours like blue and pink to the kits – but that was long before bores on the internet decided they’d accuse everything of being “woke”.

Another person mockingly wrote: "Do you remember the riots of 2010 when Joey Barton and fellow patriots took to the streets in faux outrage about the St George's cross in four different colours..."

That particular kit was the vision of graphic designer Peter Saville and went on sale without any commotion whatsoever. That shirt featured the St George's Cross in red, blue, green and purple.

In a press release by England's-then manufacturers Umbro, they said: "Inspired by the increasingly diverse fabric of England, the design takes the traditional St. George’s cross and reinterprets it as a reoccurring motif in four different colours – the traditional red, blue and green which feature in England’s three lions crest, plus a blend of all three which comes out as a striking purple."

It all seems like a storm in a teacup. But who knows, maybe these people will decide to boycott England games and we won’t have to stand next to them while we’re watching matches down the pub – sounds like a win win.

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