Stripes Re-Coloured, Stars Removed from Toronto Blue Jays 4th of July Cap

It turns out the Toronto Blue Jays will *not* wear that original red, white, and blue USA flag patterned cap we saw earlier this week over the Fourth of July weekend. The oft-criticized cap design was shown alongside 29 other Major League ballcaps on the official online shops of Major League Baseball, New Era, and Fanatics.

Now, this doesn’t mean the Blue Jays won’t be wearing an American-inspired cap on the Fourth at all… it just won’t be that exact design we initially saw.

lolwut pic.twitter.com/FbaASBdyvo
— Chris Creamer (@sportslogosnet) June 20, 2022

A source with the Blue Jays confirmed to me today that the club would instead be wearing a star-free version of that cap we saw earlier. In addition to the lack of stars, the red, white, and blue stripes have been changed to just be blue and white to help lessen the look of the original American flag-inspired design.

Here’s a side-by-side to show you the differences between the original and new 2022 Toronto Blue Jays 4th of July caps:

SHOP: Toronto Blue Jays new 4th of July cap available now right here for Canadian shoppers or right here for USA shoppers.

Toronto will, of course, still wear their usual red Canada Day uniforms at home against Tampa Bay on July 1st.

The Blue Jays told me that the team had worked with Major League Baseball and New Era to help create a cap unique from what the twenty-nine American-based teams were wearing, in recognition of their home city and country, while also allowing the many American-born Toronto Blue Jays players to showcase their patriotism on their home nation’s national holiday.

Toronto will be playing in Oakland against the Athletics this year on July 4th.

Reaction to the original cap design was varied, but most Jays fans seemed to be firmly against the idea; those on the other side suggested it wasn’t bad for a team playing in a U.S. league with U.S. players. (In that case, can we get a Canada-themed New York Rangers uniform in a game?). Others resorted to name-calling and insulting either nation because that’s social media.

***The Blue Jays 4th of July Cap design from 2016 did not refer to the United States.***

***In 2015, the Blue Jays wore an American flag on their jersey sleeve for July 4th at Detroit***

As a Canadian and a Blue Jays fan, I felt the original design was poorly executed. Having said that, I also never quite got behind some of the club’s previous “Fourth of July” caps, which were 100% Canadian-themed. Consider the Blue Jays playing in the United States on July 4th while wearing a giant Canadian flag on the front of their cap… suitable for sales back home but makes no sense on the field. I think an acknowledgement of the host country’s holiday is acceptable, but do it more subtlely; a regular Jays cap with a USA flag patch on the side (or on the jersey) sounds fine to me — it’s what a few other teams, such as the Royals, Red Sox, and Phillies had done up in Canada on July 1st in past years.