Official Team GB merchandise for the Olympics this summer has been given an “inclusive” pink and purple Union Jack rebrand after the British Olympic Association said it wanted a new look “for fans of all ages and backgrounds”. The Mail has more.
Designers behind Team GB‘s new Union Jack look say they wanted to make it more “inclusive” after a British Olympic Association appeal to attract younger fans.
Bath-based design and marketing agency Thisaway has faced a backlash for adding pink and purple to the flag on merchandise ahead of this summer’s Paris Games – though Team GB athletes will still wear the traditional Union Jack on their official kit.
The controversy comes after the launch of England’s strip for this year’s football Euros, with an altered version of the St. George’s cross on the collar.
Critics say the Union Jack has been “defaced” by Thisaway’s rebranding efforts, though creators insist Britain’s traditional red, white and blue are “far from unique”.
But the agency, which has worked on similar high-profile sporting launches including a new badge for Premier League club Brentford, says its Team GB redesign should appeal to a “new generation of sports fans”.
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Commentators lined up to criticise the move.
Former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton told the Sun: “It feels that nothing is held sacred these days in the UK. Our national flag has been symbolic for many years and should never be changed.”
Malcom Farrow, President of the Flag Institute charity, said:
I don’t approve of our national symbol of unity being defaced.
People have every right to be upset with Team GB. They need to remember brave men fought for this flag and died while protecting it – changing it is bordering on an insult to them.
To do something like this in places like India, Greece or Turkey would have serious consequences.
Designs to commemorate special events like previous Olympics have put an approved badge in the centre and kept the flag the same. This is just a marketing gimmick.
Reform Party President Nigel Farage posted on X: “This is a step too far. Total woke madness that must be reversed.”
Former British athlete Fatima Whitbread said told GB News:
I’m absolutely disgusted to think they’ve done it. It represents our late Queen. It represents everything that embraces what’s good about our country as years have gone by.
I feel strongly about that. No way should they have just gone ahead and changed the country’s symbolic colours. It is about national pride and unity.
Red, white, and blue, it has been that for 223 years, so why change it? Why is there a need to change it just because of other countries?
Our forefathers went to war for us and fought for all the different things that we stand for now, that shouldn’t just be wiped out either. A Union Jack is what it’s all about for me – and it should be for those younger ones.
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