Though never the home side, the British and Irish Lions take the field backed by a ‘sea of red’ fans. Football team nicknames and colours are familiar traditions, but their origins are often a chequered history.
The Lions adopted their now signature red jersey for their 1950 tour of Australia and New Zealand – replacing the dark blue jersey that had been used since 1910 in South Africa (the Union Jack colours, with Ireland part of the United Kingdom until 1922, being replicated in the dark blue jersey along with white shorts with red/white socks).
The change to red jersey had come to avoid a repeat of 1930s pre-tour controversy where the All Blacks reluctantly consented to wear a white jersey while their visitors from Britain wore dark blue.
The long established tradition in rugby was that the home side gave way if there was a clash of colours, which on wet and muddy fields, meant dark blue and black would soon blend into confusion.
Lions tours before WW1 had been in jerseys of red and white bars of various thickness, and the first three visits to Australia were in red, white and blue hoops (1888, 1899 and 1904).
In 1900 the Eastern Suburbs rugby club in Sydney resolved at its founding meeting to take the red, white and blue of the local Paddington club, but adopt the design of the British jersey. In 1908 the Easts (now Sydney Roosters) Rugby League Club began and then continued with the same design until the 1950s.
When the red, white and blue wearing Britannia FC were given entry into the VFA in Melbourne in 1892 (the VFL was not yet established), it was conditional upon them changing their name to their local suburb, Collingwood, and not having colours that clashed with Footscray.
The nickname “the Lions” is generally regarded as being first attributed to the British tourists in South Africa in 1924.
The team had as early as 1910 had a lion as a jersey badge, and the lion was, of course, already a long established symbol associated with Britain, and England in particular, back to the time of ‘Richard the Lionheart’ (King Richard) in the 12th century.
In all four of the Lions tours before WW1, newspapers in Australia made occasional reference to the team and the British Lion, including two instances in 1888 uncovered and revealed in ‘The First Lions of Rugby’.
In 1910 the first ‘Northern Union’ rugby league team that toured Australia and New Zealand was promoted in newspapers as “the Lions” and “the British Lions”.
In a Test match in Sydney the team entered the playing arena behind a rather mangy lion borrowed from a visiting circus.
For the first 30 years of their history the New Zealand rugby league team wore the same kit as their rugby union counterparts, and were often referred to as “the professional All Blacks” – until the New Zealand Rugby Union threatened legal action unless a distinction between the teams in name and jersey design was implemented by the NZRL.
In matches during the Lions’ 1888 tour the NSW team wore maroon, while the Queensland representatives appeared in white.
By the mid-1890s though NSW had adopted their now traditional colour and were called “the Blues”, and Queensland had changed to “the Maroons” – both names today, of course, dominate the lexicon and branding of rugby league’s State of Origin, and are eschewed by the code that first made them popular as state colours.
Though the “Waratahs” was first used for NSW’s tour to Britain in 1927-28, and the Waratah emblem badge had been ever-present since the late 1800s, the name was not widely used by the media or marketing until the late 1980s.
Queenslanders had used both cries of “Maroons!” or “Reds!” until the latter gained greater favour in the state team’s hey-day of the late 1970s.
Even in the national team things may have turned out differently. The 1905 Australian rugby team visited New Zealand wearing a jersey in sky blue and maroon hoops, adorned with a kangaroo badge.
sheek
Roar Guru
Thanks Sean, for clarifying the origin of the Qld state colour. I have always loved your story from 'Pioneers of Rugby League', on how the Wallabies got their name back in 1908. Contrary to popular perception, both Kangaroos & Wallabies were available for the rugby union tourists, but they settled on Wallabies due its connotation at the time of "being on tour." This then left the Kangaroos free to be adopted by the rugby league team.
Sean Fagan
Expert
Cheers Garth!
Sean Fagan
Expert
I think more likely the maroon/purple flower was adopted after the jersey colour made maroon representative of the colony/state. Unless it had another name, a newspaper search suggests the flower wasn't of such significance until after WW2. From what I can see there is no doubt the Blues & Maroons no longer have any resonance or utility in regard to the NSW & QLD Super teams.
Sean Fagan
Expert
@ Spiro. There is in "The Game for the Game Itself" by Thomas Hickie a lengthy list of Sydney clubs of the late 1800s, with club colours included. It doesn't really suggest a narrow option of colours. From the few newspaper advertisements I've come across places such as Horderns seem to offer what they have been able to procure from UK suppliers, which seems to be dependent upon (left overs?) the leading UK clubs designs. Some clubs in Aust dealt directly with a UK supplier. As early as 1882 in Sydney there is an advert for stripes as well as the simpler solid one-colour jerseys, but to contact the store for colours. :-( The 1888 British Lions wore a triple hoop of red, white & blue, and there were English clubs such as Richmond in triple hoops. Before adopting Cambridge blue, NSW had used maroon jerseys (1888 Lions game) as well as red & initially olive green. The first QLD team in 1882 had red and black hoops. It seems to me there was an understood convention that national teams (and here our colony teams) wore a solid colour, while clubs were stripes or solid or even a sash over a solid. The 1888 Lions were the sole exception at national level, until in 1910 going for a solid dark blue. At Rugby School when the different houses played each other they wore stripes, but the School team wore solid white. I'm not sure how that all works with your theory. What colours not used by the Home Nations, NSW, QLD, NZ & SA in late 1890s would be available?
sheek
Roar Guru
Comrade Bear - Us old blokes are geniuses at deciphering black & white photos..... ;-) Not like you modern generation types. Just an inkling of a clash colours & you have half a dozen different jersey variations available. We watched teams with similar colours on a black & white grainy TV screen & had no trouble telling the teams apart!
sheek
Roar Guru
Hi Sean, Qld rugby wants to be careful it isn't too cute with its 'all red' marketing ploy. Already, both NSW & Qld State of Origin appear to have "claimed" 'Blues' & 'Maroons' as their own monikers. Today's concession might be tomorrow's ownership. I would love to see SA have a super rugby team & declare that since Qld has pinched their red, they will play in maroon jerseys & navy shorts. I would then be interested to see how quickly Qld rugby scrambled to regain their maroon! Interesting how the maroon originally came about & your suggestion of royalty is probably correct. I always thought the Cooktown orchid maroon/purple flower was the reason for the state adopting maroon.
Garth Hamilton
Guest
As always Sean, a great read.
Spiro Zavos
Expert
Sean, fascinating stuff as usual. The Waratahs moniker in modern times goes back to when Gary Pearse was CEO of the NSWRU. I remember having a breakfast with him, along with some other rugby journalists, near the Wharf Theatre when he outlined to us his new marketing plan based on re-badging NSW as the Waratahs. This was a nick-name NSW had at least as early as the 1920s. Sean will be able to give a more definitive answer to the earliest use of the Waratahs name. I am also interested in the question of the limited number of colours used for rugby jerseys in the late 1800s. Was this because dyes for only a handful of colours had been created? Once again I enjoin readers of The Roar to get a copy of Sean's magnificent book on The First Lions.
Sean Fagan
Expert
Cheers Sheek. Interesting comparing the QLD team jersey vs Lions from 2001 design to 2013 design - they are almost identical (all white with coloured shoulder saddle), but the maroon of 2001 is now gone & tomorrow is distinctly red. I suspect QLD adopted maroon in the mid 1890s as it was close as you could get to purple, which was the recognised traditional colour of royalty (being Queen's Land) - whatever its origin, its use in the RU team established maroon as the Queensland state colour, which is something the QRU should be boastful & proud of, but now, as you illustrated in your example, that is all forgotten &/or passed on to the league Maroons.
sheek
Roar Guru
PGNEWC, With all due respect, your ignorance here is a good reason why we need a regular history reminder. The Auckland Blues only became popular with professional super rugby. I don't ever recall Auckland being referred to as 'Blues' for the 25-odd years prior to 1996 I have followed rugby. Nor did the Crusaders, Highlanders, Hurricanes or Chiefs exist before 1996. The Waikato were traditionally known as The Mooloo, while Wellington adopted the Lion monikor only a few years prior to the creation of super rugby. The adoption of nicknames in rugby provinces only became widespread with the coming of professionalism. The Northern Transvaal Blue Blues came into existence in the late 1940s. As Spencer correctly points out, the Blue in Bulls was dropped merely to accommodate the fact that other sub-unions now made up the Bulls franchise. It was not done to accommodate Auckland. A book by Bret Harris on Queensland rugby, published in 1982, was titled "The Marauding Maroons". The Queensland state colour is maroon. The change to Red is purely a marketing exercise & one that I don't agree with because it leads to false assumptions. Because among other things, one Queensland rugby union fan (perhaps born just yesterday) suggested to me a few years ago that Queensland rugby union has always played in red while Queensland rugby league has played in maroon. What a load of rubbish!!!!! On another note, the ACT rugby representative team was known as the Kookaburras before changing to Brumbies in 1996. Great read as always, Sean. I hope you will always continue to serve it up to rugby union, or rugby league, or Australian football, or soccer, if they rely on false assumptions. I love the quote attributed to former American journalist/reporter Ed Murrow - "a nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves." We must be ever vigilant (& knowledgeable) about our history, tradition & values.
Spencer
Guest
Also incorrect on the Bulls/Blue Bulls. The Blue Bulls are the Northern Transvaal Union. The Bulls were/are an amalgamation of other South African unions formed to participate in the S12.
Comrade Bear
Roar Rookie
You could tell all that from the Black and White photo? ;-) You're good!
Sean Fagan
Expert
Cheers Crashy. Go to http://Lions1888.com - follow the info/link there for a 25% discount & free postage anywhere in Aust.
Sean Fagan
Expert
@ The Pivotonian. There is a photo of the two teams from this match in The First Lions of Rugby. The Lions wore red, white & blue rugby jerseys (long sleeve). Sth Melb had their traditional red & white hoops, most appeared sleeveless.
Crashy
Guest
Sean - keen to buy your latest book. What's it called and where's the best place? ( That question sounded like an infomercial!). I loved Rugby revolution and like Dale I originally thought you were anti-rugby. When writing the cold hard facts about rugby administration around the world over the last 100 years - its hard not to sound negative!
The Pivotonian
Guest
Did the British rugby side and the South Melbourne Football Club both wear red and white in their match in 1888?
HardcorePrawn
Roar Guru
Some might argue that the Lions rarely play away from home, as they haven't often played outside the Commonwealth... Sorry, couldn't resist. Who left this apple cart here? ;) Great article BTW. And if anyone is interested, the Lions online store stock a few retro shirts.
Sean Fagan
Expert
@ Dale. Where is the example of my anti-rugby sentiment? Me bringing into light events from past decades or century that don't paint RU admin or actions favourably doesn't make me anti-rugby - it is the events themselves & the actions of people in the past, not me writing about them. A shot at RU admin (as we see day to day here on the Roar!) does not make one anti-rugby the game, nor is writing about RL mean one is automatically anti RU (Jack Pollard & Max Howell two examples). I played the game for 15 years & I've been running sites such as http://jottingsonrugby.com/ for over a decade. But, I agree, there are some that have pigeon-holed me long ago! :-)
Sean Fagan
Expert
@ PGNEWC. I don't disagree that the Waratah moniker was ramped up when the Super Rugby went pro in 1995. However, a search on newspaper archives such as Sydney Morning Herald turned up use of Waratahs in pre and post match reports from the late 1980s onwards. The NSW rugby team had not been referred to as Blues in newspapers since 1920s.
Dale
Guest
Sean, really enjoyed your last few articles on Rugby. Are you starting to soften what I thought was some growing anti-rubgy sentiment?