The replacement of the traditional red and white St George’s Cross with a multicoloured one on Nike’s design for the Euros England shirt became such a hot topic in March that the prime minister got involved. The leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, called for the kit to be scrapped. But a new exhibition shows that England shirts, and the insignia on them, have been interpreted in multiple ways since the 1950s.
Umbro 100: Sportswear x Fashion, at Ambika Gallery in the University of Westminster, tells the story of Manchester-based brand Umbro. As the official outfitter of England for the majority of the period between 1954 and 2012 (Admiral also made some designs), the national team’s shirts are a key part of the exhibition, including a 2011 shirt designed by Peter Saville, the influential graphic designer famous for creating imagery for Factory Records in the 80s and redesigning the Burberry logo more recently. On it, the cross was purple. Yet there was no backlash.
