{"id":228186,"date":"2025-07-01T02:50:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T02:50:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/228186\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T02:50:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T02:50:08","slug":"fans-only-now-discover-the-real-reason-the-british-irish-lions-wear-red","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/228186\/","title":{"rendered":"Fans Only Now Discover the Real Reason the British & Irish Lions Wear Red"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a question many rugby fans have only just found the answer to \u2013 why do the British & Irish Lions wear red?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The answer lies in the history of one of rugby\u2019s most iconic touring teams, and the need to unite four proud nations \u2013 England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.<\/p>\n

Since the 1950 tour of New Zealand, the Lions have donned their now-traditional red jersey, paired with white shorts and blue socks featuring a green turnover \u2013 colours carefully selected to represent all four nations in one kit.<\/p>\n

Before that, the Lions had experimented with several looks. The original 1888 strip featured blue and red hoops on a white base, with matching white shorts and blue socks. Over the years, designs evolved \u2013 including a dark blue jersey with white collar and red socks that became the standard by 1910.<\/p>\n

But not everyone was happy.<\/p>\n

The all-blue shirt worn during the controversial 1930 tour of New Zealand caused a major stir. The colour clashed with the All Blacks\u2019 kit, forcing them to wear white for the first time in their history. Irish lock George Beamish also questioned the lack of green, prompting the addition of green turnovers on the socks.<\/p>\n

The outbreak of WWII paused Lions tours, and when they returned to action in 1950, so did a new-look kit. Determined to avoid another kit clash with New Zealand, the Lions switched from blue to red \u2013 and the rest is history.<\/p>\n

That famous red jersey has remained ever since, with only subtle changes like sponsor logos and kit supplier tweaks. Nike became the first official kit partner in 1993, while Scottish Provident was the first front-of-shirt sponsor in 1997.<\/p>\n

One jersey. Four nations. A legacy stitched in red.<\/p>\n

EDITORS PICKS:<\/p>\n

Eddie Jones Names Four Nailed-On Starters for the Lions Test XV<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jones, never shy of a bold opinion, believes there are already four players who have effectively nailed down their spots in the starting lineup for the Test series against Australia. These selections come not just from moments of brilliance, but from deeper traits: work-rate, adaptability, and X-factor\u2014qualities Jones has always valued in his coaching career.<\/p>\n

Here are the four Lions players Jones sees as Test starters based on the early stages of the tour:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Mack Hansen \u2013 Wing<\/strong><\/p>\n

Despite some criticism in the press for a high error count, Jones came firmly to the defence of the Irish flyer, calling out pundits for \u201cfocusing on error count over involvement.\u201d Hansen, he said, \u201cepitomised the Lions spirit,\u201d getting stuck into every aspect of play\u2014from clearing rucks to challenging in the air to making incisive runs.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a leggy bugger\u2014really hard to put down in contact,\u201d Jones said. \u201cI thought he was great\u2026 he\u2019ll be an absolute glue player for Andy Farrell.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear that for Jones, Hansen\u2019s relentless involvement and intent make him undroppable, even if the execution isn\u2019t always perfect.<\/p>\n

CONTINUES ON PAGE TWO<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Like this:<\/p>\n

Like Loading…<\/p>\n

\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a question many rugby fans have only just found the answer to \u2013 why do the British…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-228186","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114775708413875632","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}