There is nothing inherently powerful about scarlet and blue stripes. They’re nice, of course, and aesthetically pleasing. But when it comes to the uniforms of FC Barcelona, they’re much more than that. Simple stripes become not only a trademark of one of the most recognizable jerseys in sport, but also one of the most meaningful.
For decades after 1939, when the Republican side—whose heartland was Catalonia, its capital Barcelona—lost the Spanish Civil War, Catalan identity was suppressed. The flag was banned, the Catalan language quashed. FC Barcelona became one of the only forums for Catalonia to celebrate its culture. They spoke Catalan at Barca games, they cheered Catalan stars like Cesar, Carles Rexach and Joan Segarra on the pitch. Barcelona found itself at the heart of Catalan culture, and the team’s shirt became a surrogate flag of a suppressed people. To this day, the 98,787 seats in the Camp Nou are a natural place for Catalans to rally in support of a once-again swelling independence movement. It’s what makes Barca—and not in slogan alone—Mes que un club: “More than a club.”
Barca’s players have worn evidence of that social importance on their chests for more than a century. Since 1910, the jersey’s crest has featured red and yellow bars to represent Barcelona and Catalonia, the team’s connection to city and community. And those blue and red stripes—the origin of the colours they’ve been wearing for 114 years is lost in the annals of history—are nearly sacred, varying little over the years.
Not until 2006 did “Blaugrana” add another major presence to its jersey’s front, in the form of a sponsor. Most other clubs in Europe already had kit sponsors for decades, but Barca refused to deface its jersey with an ad, revenue be damned. And when they did succumb, the chosen ad was UNICEF and the deal backwards in the best way: Instead of being paid to advertise, Barcelona paid the humanitarian agency €1.5 million a year. Yes, the team paid its first shirt sponsor. In 2010, for the first time, Barca cut a deal, with the non-profit Qatar Foundation.
It’s only fitting that the club respect the sanctity of the uniform worn by legends like Maradona, Johan Cruyff and Ronaldinho. And, of course, Lionel Messi, the world’s greatest player, who says you’ll never see him in another kit. “Barcelona is my life,” Messi says. “I could not leave… My heart is with Barcelona, always.”
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