American Football Worldwide - Georgia added 6/5

[sc49erfan15]

I started a project like this many years back on the CCSLC... so far back, in fact, that the original thread is in the "Sports Logos" section - in the days before the "Concepts" board even existed, and all threads were grouped together. Those concepts are long gone, but with my entry into Next Iron Crossover, the concept bug bit me again. I'm calling this a series, but have no official goals for the project. I certainly won't get to all 200+ sovereign states and territories, but my loves for geography and sports uniforms have crossed once again.

Some guidelines for this series:

• American football is being treated as if it were an Olympic sport with other global competitions, similar to basketball and soccer.
• The country's name in English will be featured in all designs, but the native name, alphabet, and language will also be used. However, only Arabic numerals will be used.
• Most countries will only have a federation logo and home/main and away/clash uniform, with minimal alternates.
• I will be assuming that American football is a "global" sport, like basketball and soccer. No country is off-limits due to the current unpopularity of American football there.
• Designs will be made using the country's other sports uniforms as inspiration, not just the flag. (e.g. Italy in blue instead of red/white/green, Australia in green/gold instead of red/white/blue, etc.)

I'll be using the Random Country Generator from http://www.randomcountry.com to determine the order of concepts, so the order will be (and is) completely random.

Map of completed countries:

Concepts:

• Uzbekistan
• Qatar
• San Marino
• Moldova
• Tanzania
• Mongolia
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Haiti
• Comoros
• Croatia
• Honduras
• Vanuatu
• Republic of the Congo
• Costa Rica
• Chad
• Niger
• Sri Lanka
• Lesotho
• Nepal
• Brazil
• Greece
• Belgium
• Liberia
• Latvia
• Luxembourg
• Uganda
• Maldives
• Albania
• Kazakhstan
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Dominican Republic
• Georgia

[sc49erfan15]

The Republic of the Congo (also known as Congo-Brazzaville to differentiate it from neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo) is a republic in Central Africa. Named for the mighty Congo river (itself named after the African Kingdom of Kongo), the Republic of the Congo was colonized by the French in the "Scramble for Africa" in the late 1800s. During the numerous French reorganization of its African colonies, the RoC was known as French Congo, then part of the French colony of Middle Congo, then part of French Equatorial Africa before finally being reorganized as the Republic of the Congo shortly before independence in 1960. The RoC was aligned with the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War while being proclaimed Africa's first "People's Republic" (read: socialist) in 1970. The "People's Republic of the Congo" was shortened to "Republic of the Congo" in a transition to multi-party democracy in 1992. Since then, the RoC has seen a civil war, many a coup d'etat, and is generally considered a "failed state" with myriad problems. The Republic of the Congo ranks 142nd of 186 on the Human Development Index, signifying low human development and suppression of individual liberty.

Soccer is the most popular sport in the Republic of the Congo. The Congolese have never qualified for the World Cup (at least these Congolese, the Democratic Republic of the Congo has) but did win the Africa Cup of Nations in 1972 and finished 4th in 1974. Currently, the RoC is ranked 78th (tied with Scotland) by FIFA. The national basketball team is ranked 82nd (tied for last among ranked FIBA teams with Liberia and Togo) by FIBA - and although he plays internationally for Spain, the Republic of the Congo is the birthplace of Oklahoma City Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka. I can't find any evidence of American football being played in the Republic of the Congo (and it's a longshot that it would be) but, once again, if it did get popular...

Honestly, I struggled a lot with this one. Generic African colors, not a whole lot of information on Brazzaville-Congolese sports and little to draw inspiration from. Ended up with a rather generic helmet logo, but I think this is something close to what would actually be seen on the field if the Republic of the Congo fielded a team. The federation abbreviation is "FECOFA" (Fédération Congolaise de Football Americain) modeled after how many African nations abbreviate their soccer federations - Congo's is "FECOFOOT" (Fédération Congolaise de Football).

[-kj]

Y'know, these might be better if they were all in one thread.

[sc49erfan15]

That's what this thread is - I realized that, now that I'm posting them regularly. All new updates will be posted in this thread.

[sc49erfan15]

Returning to Central America... hello, Costa Rica!

The Republic of Costa Rica is located on the Central American isthmus, between Nicaragua and Panama. Upon the arrival of Europeans, the area that is now Costa Rica lacked a significant native population and was largely considered unimportant in the Spanish colonial empire. As part of the Captaincy General of Guatemala, Costa Rica (along with Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras) was declared independent from Spain after the Mexican War of Independence in 1821. With those other Central American nations, Costa Rica was part of the Federal Republic of Central America until 1838. Since then, Costa Rica has enjoyed considerable peace (except for a 44-day civil war in 1949) and progress, especially compared with its neighbors. Today, Costa Rica enjoys "high" human development, ranking at #66 of 186 on the Human Development Index, with high levels of personal and economic freedom. In 2009, Costa Rica was declared the "greenest" country in the world.

As in most Latin American countries (and, for that matter, around the world), soccer is, of course, the most popular sport. The Costa Rican national team has appeared in the 1990, 2002, and 2006 World Cups. At the Olympics, Costa Rica has won a total of 4 medals (1 gold) in 20 summer and winter Games, all by sisters Silvia and Claudia Poll in swimming. American football IS played in Costa Rica - the Federación de Futbol Americano de Costa Rica (FEFACR), founded in 2008, operates a national league with 5 teams. And - what's this?!? - an actual photo of an actual person in a Costa Rican national American football uniform. I can't find any more, but hey, it exists!

[camly]

I love that abstract CR football. It took a minute or two to notice. How would that look on the sleeves?

[-kj]

I think the shoulder striping's off on the white jersey.

[sc49erfan15]

Fixed the striping in the original post, and here's the football logo on the sleeves:

[-kj]

I'd swap those two; that football looks like it's made to live on a helmet.

Also, just say no to dark numbers on dark backgrounds.

[sc49erfan15]

Updated with the football/flag logo on the helmet, CR returns to sleeves, changed the numbers to white. I kinda liked having different colored numbers on the shoulder vs. body, but this does look cleaner.

[sc49erfan15]

Right back to Africa, I present... Chad!

The Republic of Chad is located in Central Africa. Colonized by the French, the French name for the colony was Tchad, after Lake Chad in the western part of the country. The name "Chad" is used in English, but "Tchad" is used by the Government of Chad and on its soccer federation's logo, so I went with "Tchad." Chad was part of the French colony of French Equatorial Africa until granted independence in 1960. Chad has experienced many coups d'etat and civil wars since independence, and is currently considered a "failed state." Chad ranks extremely low (184th of 186) on the Human Development Index and on many freedom indices, and is one of the most corrupt states in the world.

Soccer, basketball, and athletics are the most popular sports in Chad, with soccer (naturally) the most popular. The Chadian national soccer team has never made the World Cup or even the African Cup of Nations, and is currently ranked #166 of 207 by FIFA. Likewise, the Chadian national basketball team is ranked #80 of 82 by FIBA, Chad made its Olympic debut at the 1964 Tokyo Games, and except for 1976/1980, has competed in every Summer Games since - never sending more than 6 participants and has never won a medal. American football (stop me if you've heard this one before) is a longshot in Chad, but if...

The only source of uniforms I could find for Chad were for their soccer team, who has worn red, yellow, and blue shirts over the years.

[camly]

That's really good! One very minor complaint is that the red on the away jersey could be slightly lighter to appear more visible. I think each one of these is better than the previous!

[Pharos04]

I think for Costa Rica, you missed a great opportunity to have the helmet stripe reflect the national flag (blue helmet, large red center stripe, smaller white stripes separating them).

Chad looks really good. I think they might be one of the rare ones that having a 3rd Alternate in Red would work with the equal colors of Blue, Yellow, Red on the national flag.

Great series, always well done!

[sc49erfan15]

Thanks guys! I kinda felt like Chad was one of my weaker concepts in this series, but hey... I won't argue!

[sc49erfan15]

Random country generator decided just to cross Chad's western border into... Niger!

The Republic of Niger is located in West Africa, in the Sahel region between the African savannas and the Sahara. Like previous entries Chad and the Congo, Niger was colonized by France, and Niger was part of the colony of French West Africa. Niger gets its name from the Niger River, explaining why its name is so similar to its southern neighhbor, Nigeria. Like many of France's African colonies, Niger achieved independence in 1960. And, like many nations in the region, Niger has had its fair share of problems. Coups d'etat, political instability, and poor human development plague the country, as Niger ranked dead-last (186 of 186) in the most recent Human Development Index.

Soccer (of course) is the most popular sport in Niger, but the national team has never made the World Cup or Africa Cup of Nations. Currently, Niger is ranked #100 of 207 by FIFA. At the Olympics, Niger made its debut at the 1964 Tokyo Games, and only one Nigerien has won a medal - a bronze at 1972 Munich in boxing. Again, American football in Niger is highly unlikely, but...

I decided to go with orange over green, as Niger has worn both colors in soccer, and there aren't very many opportunities to use orange for national teams. I'm not completely sold on the helmet logo... country outline + flag pattern is sort of "mailing it in," but there aren't a whole lot of creative options I can think of. I'm completely open to suggestions.

[sc49erfan15]

The first South Asian entry in to the series... Sri Lanka!

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a teardrop-shaped island roughly the size of West Virginia, located in the Northern Indian Ocean off the southern coast of India. Sri Lanka's long history is marked by its strategic importance in the areas of sea transportation from the Silk Road to modern times. Sri Lanka is about 70% Theravada Buddhist, and is considered the birthplace of Theravada Buddhism. Colonized by the Portuguese and then British, Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) achieved independence in 1948, and changed its name from Ceylon to Sri Lanka in 1972. The Sri Lankan Civil War, an attempt by the Tamil people in the north an east of the island to separate, was fought between 1983 and 2009 at a cost of 80-100,000 lives. Since then, Sri Lanka has recovered to become a fast-growing economy in an area of the world characterized by population growth and increased global importance. Sri Lanka ranks 92nd of 186 on the Human Development Index, characterizing "high" human development.

Volleyball is the official national sport of Sri Lanka, but cricket is the most popular. The Sri Lanka national cricket team is one of only 10 teams with Test Cricket status, and won the Cricket World Cup in 1996 and finished second in 2007 and 2011. Soccer, rugby, and basketball are also popular, with the Sri Lanka's national teams ranked 174th (of 207) and 79th (of 82) by FIFA and FIBA, respectively. American football is played in Sri Lanka, as the Colombo Lions represent Sri Lanka in the EFLI - Elite Football League of India. I can't find any Sri Lankan national American football team, but here is my vision...

Sri Lanka's entries in other areas of international sports competitions - soccer, basketball, and rugby - are a mishmash of color pallettes. Soccer wears royal blue, yellow, and white; basketball wears navy, red, and white... so I just went with the burgundy and gold from the flag, as there won't be a whole lot of burgundy on the international scale.

[AnythingChicago]

Before I critique your latest concept, I just want to say that I absolutely love everything you've done here. Somehow I haven't seen any of these until now but I spent the past 30 minutes looking over all these concepts and this is downright awesome. As a fellow geography nerd (I play the 2010 FIFA World Cup video game religiously as opposed to the current versions of FIFA due to my global geography obsession, trying to qualify for the World Cup with each nation one at a time. In alphabetical order, no less. ) Every one of these concepts utilizes each country's flag and heritage perfectly, and I'm completely nerdily infatuated with all the small touches in each concept, like the way you choose the jersey number by the nation's date of independence. The country histories/overviews are also interesting and informative, so don't think everyone only looks at the concepts and that you're the only one reading them, because I sure as heck am.

As for the Sri Lanka concept, I like that you went the maroon and gold route, and also that you utilized the lion emblem on the helmet. While this isn't my favorite concept of this series, I think that you did a great job given the colors and few Sri Lankan sports references you had.

I can't commend you enough for coming up with and executing this concept series the way you are. Keep 'em coming!

[jaxon#08]

How many more uniforms are you gonna to do. So far I love these concepts. I don't want them to end.

[jaxon#08]

will you try a country from South America. I'm pretty young, so I don't know anything about how you make those uniforms on a computer.I just design uniforms with my markers.

[GriffinM6]

will you try a country from South America. I'm pretty young, so I don't know anything about how you make those uniforms on a computer.I just design uniforms with my markers.

He's using a random country generator.

BTW, I love the striping on Sri Lanka