New Team Latvia Hockey Jerseys

[vman]

Latvia's national team released three new jersey designs yesterday, specifically for exhibition games. They'll of course still use their Nike jerseys for IIHF tournaments (these are made by a Latvian company called Amber Ice). They incorporated some traditional symbols into the design and brightened the maroon, which I'm not sure I like. Overall though, they're a drastic improvement over the boring Lutch jerseys they used before. My only real complaint would be that the coat of arms is in need of a black outline to match the rest of the features. It looks kind of out of place at the moment.

Here's the old one just for comparison:

[OchentaYOcho88]

Really really like that third!

[Braden]

I saw that number font and I immediately thought of this:

Man, some of those symbols look close to swastikas.

[Davidson]

Is it just me, or is there something about the designs on the ams that's more than a little reminiscent of a certain political party?

[JQK]

I don't see it... Stop trying to make something that isn't there...

[Ark]

Is it just me, or is there something about the designs on the ams that's more than a little reminiscent of a certain political party?

This is the first thing I thought of, but I firn't want to come right out and say it...

Maybe the font? The width and angles?

[IceCap]

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on the whole swastika thing. Shapes like the ones the sweaters use are common throughout Baltic history. Heck, Latvia's airforce actually used the swastika as their emblem prior to the rise of Hitler's National Socialists.

It's not a swastika, and it's not trying to be one. It's just trying to reflect Latvia's cultural history.

So there you go Latvia Hockey. I gave you the benefit of the doubt. Don't have the sweater designers pull a Mel Gibson on me

[vman]

Is it just me, or is there something about the designs on the ams that's more than a little reminiscent of a certain political party?

That's because traditional latvian symbols are all very angular and symmetrical. The swastika is actually an ancient latvian symbol as well (dating back to the 3-4th century). These were chosen based on their traditional meanings (power, safety, success, productivity, etc) and there are actually quite a few fans who've said that they're upset "that" design wasn't used as well, as it would have fit the theme perfectly. The national Olympic team actually used a stylized version on it on their Vancouver Olympic jackets (Latvians call it the thundercross, and it's traditionally a sign of happiness and energy), and as far as I know, there were no complaints.

[The_Admiral]

Not seeing a swastika (which I think goes back to India, not Latvia). Baltic/Eastern European design just has lots of interlocking lines and such. Like, look at those dresses that Ukrainians wear for special occasions.

[Ark]

I know it has a lot more history than just nazism, but usually I think of the ancient symbol being angled like a + and the nazi symbol being angled like an x, and these have many x angles.

I'm not trying to spread ignorance, but I could definitely see these being argued about if they are used in the Olympics or something.

[hockey week]

I'll admit, my first reaction was "...is that a swastika?" and of course it isn't, and of course it never was and certainly there was no intention of displaying anything that the swastika represents in the modern context.

But I certainly don't blame anybody for doing a doubletake there.

I don't see that as a problem, I don't think it should be changed, and there's certainly nothing wrong with their design...I'm just saying, I thought it too.

[OMMF]

So, the question is, where do I order one?

[vman]

So, the question is, where do I order one?

Apparently they'll be available at khlstore.eu sometime soon.

[truepg]

Swastika was the first thing I thought of too when I saw those symbols.

Now that I think of it, the color scheme of red, black and grey doesn't help the case either.

And does anyone think this is BFBS?

[oddball]

Where exactly are you people seeing swastikas? I'm seeing an "S" over a pair of hockey sticks, and tick-tack-toe game underneath either hockey sticks or mountains.

[hockey week]

I think the # next to very-angular crossed hockey sticks is far more swastika-like than the S with sticks.

Again, it's not something that you really see, but rather the shapes are easily misinterpreted at a glance.

I think we're so used to seeing them and being absolutely aghast when we do, just trained to look for it, that we misinterpret the shapes.

One again, not a problem, shouldn't be changed, but I see it too, only when you're glancing.

[The_Admiral]

Lettish talk about this without bringing up the swastikas.

[IceCap]

Is it just me, or is there something about the designs on the ams that's more than a little reminiscent of a certain political party?

That's because traditional latvian symbols are all very angular and symmetrical. The swastika is actually an ancient latvian symbol as well (dating back to the 3-4th century). These were chosen based on their traditional meanings (power, safety, success, productivity, etc) and there are actually quite a few fans who've said that they're upset "that" design wasn't used as well, as it would have fit the theme perfectly.

Blame the Germans.

Lettish talk about this without bringing up the swastikas.

The home and roads are rather lacklustre. The alternate, though, is pretty sharp.

[The_Admiral]

The alternate is the closest thing to an Ugly Sweater being a hockey sweater. I like it.

[IceCap]

With the home and roads it looks like they just stuck their graphics package onto an existing overly piped and panelled generic "modern" template. Also, I've never been the biggest fan of using a national coat of arms as a logo. Taking inspiration and using it as the basis for a design is fine. This is just a black, silver, and maroon recolour though.

The alternate really embraces the traditional symbol motif to the ultimate degree, and it doesn't feel hindered by a "stock" template. I really like how it turned out.