Barcelona Launches New Fourth Kit with Senyera Flag Front and Center

Spanish La Liga giants FC Barcelona are renewing their local pride with a new fourth kit with the Catalan senyera flag front and center.

Barça launched the new kits, made by Nike, on their website on Friday, January 27, and will wear them for the first time on Saturday, January 28, against Girona. It’s mainly yellow, with four red stripes across the chest representing the senyera, the flag representing the autonomous community of Catalonia.

The club crest is placed in the middle of the chest, atop the red stripes. A navy Nike swoosh sits on the left sleeve, and the logo of sponsor Spotify also appears on the chest in navy, below the red stripes. The sleeve cuffs contain blocks of blue and red, evoking Barcelona’s usual home kit motif of blue and red vertical stripes.

*The senyera flag. (Courtesy **Wikipedia**)*

The jersey pays tribute to the club’s roots, featuring the Catalan senyera flag on the chest and taking inspiration from the captain’s armband. Throughout its 124 years of history, Barça has become known worldwide for its inclusive approach, while remaining closely linked to Catalonia and its culture, the Catalan way of life, and for conveying its values to its fans around the world.
— FCBarcelona.com

This kit replaces Barcelona’s previous senyera kit, which they had worn at least once in each of the last four seasons. That kit features the four red stripes as brush strokes running diagonally down the front of the shirt, tapering off as they reached the hem.

Barça has also incorporated senyera imagery into other kits in recent years. Their 2022-23 home kit has a small graphic on the back collar made up of yellow and red blocks. The team captain often wears a senyera-themed armband. And in 2021, the club incorporated yellow gradients into the red stripes of their traditional home kit pattern to evoke the Catalonian flag in an ‘El Clasico’ matchup against Real Madrid.

1. FC KÖLN – 75th Anniversary Kit

German Bundesliga side 1. FC Köln are marking their 75th anniversary with a special edition kit, made by Hummel. It’s mostly white, mirroring what the club wore shortly after it was founded on February 13, 1948. The collar is red with white laces at the front, and the sleeve cuffs are solid red. The Hummel logo on the chest is embroidered with white thread so it doesn’t stand out on the shirt.

The 1. FC Köln crest embroidered on the left chest is the version the club used in the late 1980s. All five versions of the crest used since 1948 are printed inside the collar, along with a quote from the club’s first president, Franz Kremer: “Tradition hat nur dann einen Sinn, wenn der Wille zu noch größeren Taten vorhanden ist.” (“Tradition only makes sense if there is a will to do even greater things.”)

The shirt will be paired with red shorts and red-and-white-striped socks when they’re worn for the first time on Sunday, February 12, against Eintracht Frankfurt. A black version for goalkeepers is also available on 1. FC Köln’s web store.

SSC NAPOLI – Valentine’s Day Kit

With Valentine’s Day coming up, Italian side SSC Napoli is spreading the love with a special edition kit made by Emporio Armani. It’s mostly white, with the red raglan sleeves fading to white in the same pattern as their 2022-23 home and away kits. A large red lip print appears on the front right of the jersey.

Napoli wore the kits in game action for the first time in their Coppa Italia match against US Cremonese on Tuesday, January 17. Unfortunately they lost on penalty kicks.

Napoli have also worn special holiday kits for Christmas and Halloween this season. In 2021-22, Napoli wore 13 different outfield kits, including special jerseys for Halloween, a whole set with gold accents for Europa League games, and four different kits honoring club legend Diego Maradona.

INTER MILAN – Lunar New Year Kit

Meanwhile, fellow Serie A side Inter Milan celebrated the Lunar New Year this week with a special edition kit that they wore in a match against FC Empoli on Monday, January 23. It was Inter’s usual home kit with blue and black stripes, but the numbers on the backs of the shirts and on the shorts contained a pattern yellow and white circles. The names on the backs of the shirt were written in Chinese characters. And a patch on the left sleeve “contains a play on words made with the character 兔, which in Chinese means ‘rabbit.'”