Crest. The England national football team's logo features three lions passant guardant, the insignia of King Richard I, who ruled from 1189 to 1199. In 1872, English players wore white jerseys imprinted with the Football Association's three lions insignia. The lions, who are frequently blue, have undergone modest color and appearance alterations. They continue to serve as the FA's symbol even though they no longer represent any reigning monarch.
The current England squad logo was adopted in 1973 at the time of the FA's re-organisation that saw itself become more representative of society. The previous logo had a shield with the three lions passant guardant on it. This had been used since 1872 when the England team first appeared at a tournament in Germany. It was designed by an English artist named John Bennett.
Bennett was the son of a coachmaker from Derby and became interested in art at an early age. He served his apprenticeship as an engraver before setting up his own business in London. One of his first major commissions was the design of the British flag which he sketched at the 1861 International Exhibition. He went on to provide illustrations for several books about Britain and its empire including Thomas Cook's Illustrated Guide to Europe (which included views of Buckingham Palace).
In addition to designing the England team badge, John Bennett also created logos for several other sports teams including Chelsea FC, which still uses his design today.
The short explanation is that England wears the three lions on their jerseys, as they have done since the first international versus Scotland in 1872, since they are just sporting the Football Association's insignia. The long explanation is that the three lions motif dates back to King John who had them incorporated into his seal. They remain a popular symbol of England today.
In fact, the FA has used several different designs for its coat of arms over the years. This one was adopted in 1865 when William IV was still king and hasn't changed much since then.
The oldest existing flag of England is a banner dating from 1429 which now hangs in York Minster. It's a large panel depicting a lion holding a sword and crown between it paws. This image is sometimes called "the warrior bishop".
Lions were important symbols for England during its time as a kingdom because they were believed to be a link to the Norman kings who had brought civilization to England. As you can see from this page of medieval armorials (a collection of painted shields used to identify families with wealthy connections), the three leopards is the preferred choice for those who can't afford lions on their shield. But there are still plenty of lions around even though they aren't very fashionable anymore.
The England national football team is known as the "Three Lions" because of the three lions on the logo on the players' jerseys. In summary, England wears the three lion crest as a representation of the Football Association, whose emblem is the three lion crest.
The three lions first appeared on an FA kit in 1872. Before then, the club shirts had various forms of animal design including rabbits, dogs, and swans. The current kit consists of a white shirt with red trim and blue shorts or trousers. A yellow stripe runs down each side of the shirt and there are red stripes on the shoulders.
In addition to their home match uniforms, England also wears white kits when they play at Wembley Stadium. The Three Lions have also used other colors when playing overseas including green when they played in Switzerland and Austria and black when they took on Germany in 2014.
England has a history of changing their kit manufacturers often, which means that not all teams will have the same uniform set up. For example, before Nike became the official kit manufacturer in 2013, Adidas produced England's kits from 2003 to 2012. From 1872 to 1972, England's kits were made by Woolwich Arsenal FC but these aren't considered to be one of world football's great clubs so they don't wear out their welcome too quickly!
I was recently asked why the England football team's crest had three Lions, and I was intrigued to find out. There appears to be a veil of uncertainty around the logo's history, with numerous hypotheses being floated. But one thing is for sure: the Lion has been on the English flag since 16th century and before that time there were no lions on the flag.
The first recorded use of the lion as a symbol of England dates back to 1338 when Edward III adopted the leopard and lily of France as his personal badge. It wasn't until much later that the lion came to represent England alone instead of both countries. The three-headed lion is a unique combination and although it may look like a lion with three heads, it isn't. A single lion statue with three heads would not be uncommon in ancient Egypt or Rome where many statues were made from single blocks of stone.
There are several theories about how the three-headed lion came to be used as a symbol of England. One theory is that it represents Christ the King, another is that it comes from Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" where he describes the Three Lions device that was used by the monks of Canterbury Cathedral.
Yet another theory is that the three-headed lion is a representation of Henry VIII who had three sons.
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