Captain’s Armbands
One of the more unique traditions in soccer is the captain’s armband. The only other sport I’m aware of in which the captain of a team is visually denoted is hockey (a ‘C’ on the shirt).
Soccer captain armbands are, for the most part, utilitarian. The Premier League prefers a thin armband with a lion, taken from the unofficial three lions symbol of England.
In Continental Europe, however, captains tend to use a thicker armband, often with just a large C on it.
Captain’s armbands have been used to promote messages, as FIFA did at the 2006 World Cup. There, the armbands worn by all captains promoted FIFA’s Fair Play message (I never noticed that he had taped over the fair play message on his armband; should this have been seen as a hint of what was to come?).
But my favorite two captain’s armbands represent the areas in which they are used. Ajax and Barcelona both use armbands that are distinctive in world football.
Ajax uses an armband that has two red stripes surrounding a black stripe on which 3 white Xs are superimposed. Ajax is based in Amsterdam, which might some people (including me, I’ll admit it) some interesting initial thoughts about the meaning of the design. The actual significance of the design comes from far before Amsterdam gained a reputation as a city of sin. The Amsterdam city council informs of of the true meaning of the crest:
Three crosses form the core of Amsterdam’s city crest. These are St. Andrew’s crosses, named after the apostle St. Andrew who is said to have been martyred on such a cross. The shield on which the crosses stand consists of three vertical stripes in the colours red - black - red. The crosses are in the black stripe.
In any case, Ajax captains are quite distinct wearing this armband, as modeled here by Jaap Stam.
I’d also like to get in a plug for the folks at AjaxUSA, with whom I traveled to Amsterdam in 2005. While in Holland, I purchased several Ajax armbands and gave on to our youngest group member, Sean, on his birthday (6, if I recall correctly). He wore it around everywhere for the rest of the trip.
Like Ajax, Barcelona is a club intimately tied to its homeland. The club prides itself as being “more than a club” and has been a symbol of Catalonian identity since its inception (I recommend Barca: A People’s Passion by Jimmy Burns for those interested in further reading on Barcelona). This status is reinforced by the armband worn by the Barcelona captain, which is, in fact, the flag of Catalonia. Modeled here by Carlos Puyol (if that can be said of someone as ugly as the Barca centerback).
I have noticed recently that other teams in Spain (Zaragoza and Valencia are two I saw this past weekend) also have captain’s armbands based on the regions they come from.
I would love to see more teams follow this lead. Here’s to a global movement to encourage teams to develop unique captain’s armbands that represent something unique about themselves. Who’s with me?
