National team
Germany in pink – “a no-go” in sports for a long time
The choice of color for the away jersey of the German national football team caused a stir. photo
© Daniel Karmann/dpa
The new pink away jersey of the national soccer team is a topic of conversation. A researcher explains what people associate with the color pink and what role colors play in football.
The choice of color for the national team’s new pink and purple away jersey has caused controversy. The 57-year-old color researcher said that the fact that some people find the choice of color unsuitable for the jersey could have something to do with what they associate with the color.
“I like it, I think it’s a brave decision,” said national coach Julian Nagelsmann about the choice of color. “There have been studies on goalkeepers; if they have brightly colored jerseys, the goal becomes smaller and smaller. Maybe the gap for the opponent’s pass becomes smaller if we have a colorful jersey.”
Pink is associated “with the fairer sex.”
Actually, the color pink is very strongly associated with delicacy, vulnerability and sensitivity and therefore more “with the fairer sex,” said Buether. Pink was therefore “a no-go for a long time” in sports, as men’s sports are more associated with masculine characteristics such as strength, aggressiveness and competitive behavior.
“Colors have immense meaning for people,” explained Buether. How a color works can be explained, among other things, by how it is perceived in nature. For example, the blue of the sky always appears cool, wide and open. Red, on the other hand, is perceived as warm, lively and sometimes aggressive or sexy. Added to this is the cultural significance of the colors, for example the post office is associated with yellow or Ferrari with red. Pink, on the other hand, is strongly associated with the Barbie doll, among other things.
Fans use team colors in the stadium
Colors are also important in football. “Of course, every team has a specific color code, and the fans use that in the stadium,” said Buether. “This allows them to provide maximum support to their team.” At many football clubs you can see the color blue or warning colors from black, yellow to red. “For a long time there was actually little to no pink.”
The national team will wear the much-discussed colorful jerseys for the first time in Frankfurt/Main on Tuesday (8:45 p.m./RTL). The game against Oranje is the last test before the squad nomination in May, where Nagelsmann will decide on his 23 tournament players. In the 2-0 away win in France, Germany wore their new home jersey – the hosts had their choice of color. In Frankfurt, the DFB selection has now chosen pink.