Collection: Sport

Just as logos and color strips identify teams and sports, so sport flags provide a kind of tribal identity shared by players and fans alike.

For a sports team, having a recognizable flag is a smart marketing and branding strategy. By featuring a symbol and team colors on a flag, a team can ensure that it is instantly recognized wherever it plays. A sea of chanting fans waving flags is a great morale booster, and an obvious way for fans to display their allegiance publicly.

In a very real sense, the competitiveness of modern sports echoes the rivalry of the old-time battlefield or gladiator contest – and flags have always been a rich and symbolic part of both warfare as well as individual contests. By carrying a team’s flag, a spectator becomes a participant in the event too.

Sports flags are not governed by the same rules as national or military flags, and designs range from impressive and businesslike to whacky and absurd. Animals, totems, symbols, and even devices like anagrams are a characteristic of sports flags, and sport team flags and banners are often exuberantly unique in their design.

Sports flags are also not restricted to a set shape or format, either – so logos and designs can be portrayed on banner-type flags, triangular pennants, and a host of other formats like desk flags or vehicle flags. It is this unrestrained variety of designs and formats that makes it so much fun to collect sport flags, and they’re often also among the most visually varied and pleasing flags you could hope to see.