Gareth Southgate described the design of the flag which includes red, navy blue, and purple colors a quirky design feature rather than a traditional St George’s flag.
Southgate, a proud patriot, refrained from criticizing the Football Association and Nike for the multi-colored flag, which is said to pay homage to the training kit of the 1966 World Cup-winning squad.
The head coach addressed the controversy for the first time ahead of the friendly match against Brazil.
Southgate was asked about his thoughts on the design and said: “I think they can put a quirky design together but you can’t say it’s the flag of St George because it isn’t. It’s therefore something else”.
“The most important thing on the England shirt is the Three Lions. That is the iconic thing, that differentiates us even from the England rugby team or the England cricket team”.
“I am a huge patriot. I believe we should celebrate St George’s Day more than we do. But the bit I understand is people don’t think we should have changed the flag of St George”.
Gareth Southgate, who will lead the Three Lions at Euro 2024 in Germany in June 2024 added; “If it’s changed then it isn’t the flag of St George! So I’m a little bit lost with that element of it”.
Nike said in a statement that “it was never their intention to offend” and that the “intention was to celebrate the heroes of 1966 and their achievements”.
In the England international game, a young English star, Harvey Elliot, made his first official appearance in the new ‘woke’ Nike shirt by turning up the collar, concealing the controversial blue and purple St George’s Cross.
Despite scoring two goals in England’s 5-1 victory over Azerbaijan, the flag on his £125 jersey remained hidden throughout the game.
The FA executive responsible for approving the changes to the England flag on the shirt has since left Wembley, with the new kit deal signed off by former commercial director Navin Singh, who now holds the role of Chief Commercial Officer of Six Nations Rugby.
The controversial revamp of the St George’s Cross by Nike, which included the addition of navy, light blue, and purple to the classic red cross, was given the go-ahead by Singh in the summer of 2022.
Despite being approved earlier, the changes were only revealed when the kit went on sale this week, sparking harsh criticism.
Both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Opposition leader Keir Starmer have urged the FA to return to the traditional flag design.
Starmer said: “The flag’s unifying, it doesn’t need to change. We just need to be proud of it. So I think they should just reconsider this and change it back”.
However, former Premier League manager Harry Redknapp branded the decision “an absolute disgrace”
The 77-year-old said; “I’ve seen plenty of own goals in my time, but this has to be the worst ever”.
“Who on earth thought this was a good idea? It’s the cross of St George, red and white. Would Nike do this with another country’s flag?”
Former Arsenal and England goalkeeper David Seaman, 60, who won 75 caps, said: “Leave it alone. It doesn’t need fixing. What’s next, are they going to change the Three Lions to three cats?”
“It’s the St George’s flag. I’m sure that if they’d approached the lads and asked them about it, they would have said no.”
Peter Shilton, England’s most capped player with 125 appearances in goal, also hit out at both the design and the extortionate price of the shirts released ahead of Euro 2024 in Germany.
Reform UK MP Lee Anderson blasted the move and told the reporters: “The Left have the nerve to ask me why I want my country back. This virtue-signaling, namby-pamby, pearl-clutching, woke nonsense must stop”.
Singh departed from the FA last year to take on a more senior position with the Six Nations. It is uncertain if FA’s chief executive, Mark Billingham, was informed of Nike’s alterations to the flag before the deal was finalized.
The FA’s current commercial director, James Gray, had no involvement in the matter as he had only recently joined the organization in December.
Southgate was also asked about the pricing of the shirt which has come in for criticism with a standard England jersey now costing £84.99 and an ‘authentic’ one retailing at £124.99 – and only £5 cheaper for the children’s version.
Southgate said; “This is always a difficult scenario for families. Families always want to be able to provide their kids with the latest football shirts”.
“The only thing I know as a parent is that the football shirt gets worn more than any other item of clothing that a kid has. But obviously, other people are guiding those prices, so I don’t really know what the correct pricing should be”.
“But I completely understand, from a parents’ perspective, in this day and age, in particular this moment, where we are economic, that it’s a huge commitment to buy a shirt that is at a high price”.
