The purple, blue and red cross that appeared on the back of the collar during the last European Championship has been removed
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England have ditched the multicoloured St George’s Cross on their new kit for the upcoming World Cup.
The new strips, manufactured by Nike, feature a traditional white home shirt and a red away kit – with both designs set to go on sale on Monday.
One notable change is the removal of the purple, blue and red cross that appeared on the back of the collar during the last European Championship.
In its place, the inside of the collar now carries the words “happy and glorious,” a reference to the national anthem.
The updated home shirt adopts what Nike described as a “modern all-white design that honours England’s heritage,” while the away strip marks a return to red — the colour worn when England won their only World Cup in 1966.
The previous redesign of the St George’s Cross sparked major debate.
Critics argued that altering the traditional red-and-white symbol risked undermining a powerful emblem of national identity, while others defended the move as a creative tribute to England’s footballing history.
Even then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer weighed in on the design.
Sunak had said: “When it comes to our national flags, we shouldn’t mess with them because they’re a source of pride, identity, who we are, and they’re perfect as they are.”
Starmer added: “I’m a big football fan, I go to England games, men, women’s games. And the flag is used by everybody, it’s unifying, it doesn’t need to change. We just need to be proud of it. So they should reconsider this and change it back.
"I’m not even sure they can properly explain why they thought they needed to change in the first place. They could also reduce the price of the shirts.”
Then England manager Sir Gareth Southgate also said the motif could not be described as the St George’s Cross because it was not red and white.
This little place we call home.
Introducing the England men's 2026 home and away kit ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/rcaNvKyLth— England (@England) March 20, 2026
The controversy prompted the Football Association to introduce a more rigorous approval process for future England kits.
Reports at the time suggested that concerns had been raised internally about how the Euro 2024 design had been signed off, with claims — denied by those involved — that senior figures had not fully reviewed the collar motif before production.
Following this, it was announced that England’s World Cup kit would be subject to a new FA vetting process after Nike refused to rule out “messing with” the national flag again for the this year's tournament.
The FA previously emphasised that the Euro 2024 shirt had been designed as a tribute to England’s 1966 World Cup-winning team, noting that multicoloured trim elements were inspired by training gear worn during that era.
It said: “The new England 2024 home kit has a number of design elements which were meant as a tribute to the 1966 World Cup-winning team.
"The coloured trim on the cuffs is inspired by the training gear worn by England’s 1966 heroes, and the same colours also feature on the design on the back of the collar.
“It is not the first time different-coloured St George’s cross-inspired designs have been used on England shirts. 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 – as it always is.”
Nike said: “We have been a proud partner of the FA since 2012 and understand the significance and importance of the St George’s Cross and it was never our intention to offend, given what it means to England fans.”
Attention now turns to the upcoming tournament.
England manager Thomas Tuchel has named his squad for the upcoming World Cup warm-up matches against Uruguay and Japan, scheduled for Friday and then Tuesday 31 March respectively — fixtures that will offer fans their first glimpse of the new kit in action.
