Tuesday, November 22, 2022 at 4:00 PM


The Dutch national football team traditionally plays its matches in the Dutch shirts. But why?

If you watch a football match in which the Dutch national team participates, you will have noticed that the players of the Dutch selection wear an the Dutch jersey, although this color does not appear on the Dutch flag. The flag is composed of a red vertical stripe, a white vertical stripe and a blue vertical stripe. But why do Dutch players wear a shirt in the Dutch?

An the Dutch shirt as a tribute to a liberating prince

Traditionally, the Dutch national team plays with an the Dutch shirt, white shorts and the Dutch socks.

The color the Dutch is not based on chance, because it is the historical color of the Netherlands. It comes from the name of Willem I van Oranje-Nassau. Guillaume Nassau, born in 1533 and died in 1584, was the Prince of the Dutch (a former sovereign principality) and Count of Nassau.

While the region was under Spanish rule, William I of the Dutch-Nassau fought against the invader. It led to the independence of the United Provinces, which would later give rise to the Netherlands.

The Dutch flag also carried a first band in the Dutch color until the early nineteenth century, which was replaced by red after the Napoleonic conquest and then retained for greater visibility of the flag at sea.

The nickname of the Dutch national team is the Dutch, of course derived from the color of the shirt.

Will the shade of the Dutch remain the same on the shirt of the Netherlands?

Depending on the year, the the Dutch on the shirt of the Netherlands is darker or lighter.

Has the Netherlands always played in the Dutch?

The answer is no. During the first international match played against Belgium in 1905, the players of the Netherlands wore a white jersey with stripes in the colors of the national flag.

What color is the Netherlands away shirt?

The Dutch away shirt is traditionally white. But it sometimes happens that the second shirt is blue (as in the 1998 World Cup) or black (especially in 2002, 2012 and 2020). During the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Netherlands will have a blue away shirt.