American Football Worldwide - Uzbekistan

[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 concept, as well as any future designs I may post:

• 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 be used prominently. However, only Arabic numerals will be used.
  
• Most countries will only have a 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, Australia in green and gold, etc.)
  

How did I decide on Uzbekistan? I went to a random country generator, and Uzbekistan was what it gave me. I went with it. If you want some trivia before I get to some more info, Uzbekistan is one of only two doubly-landlocked countries in the world - meaning it's not only landlocked, but surrounded by countries who are also landlocked.

Uzbekistan ("Land/place of the Uzbek people") came into being in 1924 as the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (part of the then-USSR) and was the third such republic created by the Soviet government. The area has a long, rich history - its location in Central Asia placed it along major trade routes between Europe, the Middle East, and China bringing a heavy mix of cultures. Uzbekistan's second-largest city, Samarkand, was a major point of trade along the Silk Road and a focal point of Islamic art and education. However, the creation of the Uzbek SSR marked the first time the Uzbek people had a geographically-delineated area in modern times. The Soviets brought sweeping changes to the area, both postive (virtual elimination of illiteracy - 99.3% of Uzbeks are literate today, on par with/slightly better than the United States) and negative (attempts to eradicate religion, overagriculturalization leading to essential destruction of the Aral Sea). Upon the breakup of the USSR in 1991, the Uzbek SSR became independent as the Republic of Uzbekistan. Since then, the republic has been mostly politically stable - however, Uzbekistan is regarded as one of the "least free" countries in the world with regards to human rights.

As far as sports are concerned, soccer, wrestling, boxing, and judo are the most popular. Uzbekistan's national men's soccer team is currently ranked #67 in the world, basketball #61. At the Olympics, Uzbekistan has won a total of 21 medals (6 gold), mostly in wrestling and boxing. Uzbekistan is probably one of the least likely countries to ever field an American football team. But hey, that's not what this is about!

Home field: Pakhtakor Markaziy Stadium, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Capacity: 35,000.

Built: 1956; Renovated: 1996.

Enough already... onto the concept!

Uzbekistan's flag features rather unique colors, which were fun to work with. The one problem was that the blue, green, and red clash when not separated by white. Blue is usually the dominant color with green used as trim or as a secondary. Red is only used as trim on the flag, and I can't find it used on any of Uzbekistan's other uniforms, so I left it strictly to trim. The twelve-star design on the sleeves is intended to be sublimated, similar to Oregon's wing design. Uzbekistan is a predominantly-Muslim country, meaning symbols of Islam usually are not featured on sports uniforms. Officially, the crescent on the Uzbek flag does not symbolize Islam, but I left it off anyway (Notice how Uzbekistan's IOC/UFF logos linked below feature no crescent.)

The federation logo borrows from the Huma bird featured in the coat of arms of Uzbekistan and Uzbekistan's Olympic Committee logo. It's just perfect for a federation logo... the fact that the bird appears to be signaling a touchdown is just a coincidence. It's in English mainly because the Uzbekistan Football Federation's logo is - but that became an interesting issue to deal with.

Remember when I mentioned Uzbekistan is a crossroads of cultures? The Uzbek language was originally written in Arabic, then switched to Latin script in the 1920s, then to Cyrillic in 1940 under Joseph Stalin. Upon independence, deadlines were set to switch back from Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet, but both alphabets are still in use. So, I created logos and wordmarks using the English name Uzbekistan and the IOC's abbreviation UZB, in Uzbek Cyrillic (Ўзбекистон) and in Uzbek Latin (O‘zbekiston). The UZB logo is featured on one side of the helmet, while ЎЗБ is on the other. So, if real Uzbekistan ever completely switched over to one script, their fake football team could easily make the switch.

So, CCSLC, is this the best American football concept you've ever seen for Uzbekistan? Have at it!

[DolphinManatee]

This is a great idea, though I recommend that you put some red on the jerseys and/or the pants. And where is this random country generator that you speak of?

If you want some trivia before I get to some more info, Uzbekistan is one of only two doubly-landlocked countries in the world.

The other country would be Liechtenstein.

[lancealot]

I can't wait to see some of these concepts, especially the country's that compete in the World Cup

[camly]

MAybe a red outline on the pant striping would be subtle enough like on the flag.

[sc49erfan15]

The random country generator I used is the first one that pops up if you Google "random country generator"...simple as that!

I originally had a red outline on the pants, but switched it as I thought it looked odd that red was on the pants and helmet, but not the jerseys. With the red not looking so great matched up against the blue/green without a white outline, I couldn't find a way to work it on the jerseys subtly, but here it is on the pants.