What is meant for political jerseys? When football kits manage to spread messages and ideas or to reaffirm positions and concepts

Throughout the history of football, the jersey has showed much more than traditional colors, becoming a vehicle of hidden meanings and deep stories. The simple kit has evolved to become both a garment for the catwalks and an essential element in the contemporary streetwear culture, but also an effective medium to raise awareness about certain political and social issues. On the other hand, many teams show their identity and their origins thorugh the football jersey, as a symbol of the bond with a portion of the population or a specific ethnic group.

Beside the national team jerseys linked to the totalitarian regimes (such as those of Italy at the 1934 and 1938 World Championships, with the fascio littorio was on the chest), one of the first jerseys to act as a bridge between the football pitches and politics was that of Corinthians used in the 1982-1983 season. Brazil was under a military dictatorship at the time, and Socrates – captain of the Brazil national team – tapped into the public’s desire for democracy. He established Democracia Corinthiana (Corinthian Democracy), encouraging the masses to demand democracy too. The '82-83 kit presented the logo of the ideological movement created by Socrates on its shoulders, transforming the kit into a sort of political manifesto.