Germany to Redesign Adidas Soccer Jersey After Concerns About Nazi Symbol Resemblance

The German Football Association (DFB) announced on Monday that it will redesign the country’s national soccer jerseys after social media users noted that the font used to spell out “44” is reminiscent of the Schutzstaffel (SS) logo of the Nazi paramilitary organization.

The DFB unveiled Germany’s new uniforms, which will be worn by both the men’s and women’s national teams, in late March. The men’s team already wore the new jerseys during a match against France, and the new uniforms will also be worn when Germany hosts the 2024 UEFA European Championship this summer.

Adidas, the official supplier of the uniforms, has an online customization service on its website that allows customers to personalize the jersey with a number, from 00 to 99, and a name that is up to 10 letters long. Even though “44” is not currently used by Germany’s men’s or women’s teams, customers used the customization service on the Adidas website to create shirts with the number and shared images online of the jersey. They pointed out that with the font provided by Adidas, “44” resembles the SS logo, which looks like a lighting bolt and is a symbol commonly used today by white supremacist and neo-Nazis, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

#Adidas bringing back the lightning to Germany 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/Cx8pXDrj1m

— Sir Fisher Man (@SirFisherMan) March 31, 2024

The DFB said in a statement shared on X/Twitter that it submitted designs for numbers 1 to 26 to the UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, for review and “none of the parties involved saw any proximity to Nazi symbolism in the creation process of the jersey design.”

“Nevertheless, we take the comments very seriously and do not want to provide a platform for discussions,” the DFB added. “We will develop an alternative design for the number 4 and coordinate it with UEFA.”

Adidas spokesperson Oliver Bruggen told German media that it will “block the number 44 as quickly as possible,” according to Reuters. The spokesperson added: “As a company we actively oppose xenophobia, antisemitism, violence, and hatred in any form.” The option to customize the German team’s jerseys has since been removed from the Adidas websites.

The DFB recently announced that Nike will replace Adidas as the official shirt supplier for Germany’s national soccer teams starting in 2027.