‘Red and White for life’: Bayern Munich’s white 2023-24 home kit harks back to first year in Bundesliga

Bayern Munich have unveiled their new home kit for the 2023-24 season, a celebration of the club’s deep-rooted historical connection to the colours red and white that harks back to the season in which they were first promoted to the Bundesliga.

The new design switches the Bavarians’ familiar modern look to a simple design that sees a crisp white torso embellished with bright red sleeves — a historic configuration used regularly by the Bavarians from the 1920s through to the early 1960s.

Bayern themselves point out that the new jersey is designed as a nod to that worn by the club when they first came up to the Bundesliga in 1965, two years after the national top-flight division had been established.

Few could have predicted then that the Bavarians would go on to win 31 championships, and that total could go up to 32 if they win this season’s tight title race with rivals Borussia Dortmund in the league’s 60th year.

The upshot is that for the first time in 12 years Bayern’s primary jersey will be more white than red, with the last dozen kits all featuring red as the base colour with white (and, in rare instances, blue) used for the trim and decor.

Stars of the club’s men’s and women’s teams including Linda Dallmann, Serge Gnabry, Lina Magull, Sadio Mane, Thomas Muller and Sarah Zadrazil all modelled the kit in the club’s launch video.

The new shirt has a motto printed inside the collar that reads “Rot & Weiß ein Leben lang” (“Red and White for life”) which refers to the club’s own rule that all of their home kits must feature those two colours, much as they have done ever since.

Indeed, the club declared in 2018 that blue would never again be seen on a Bayern home kit after ultras protested vigorously against the wide navy stripes that adorned 2014-15’s home jersey.

“FC Bayern has been in conversation with fan representatives about the use of club colours in kits. For fans, kits represent an important sign of identity with their club,” Bayern executive Jorg Wacker said at the time.

“[We have] thus announced that in future, only the club’s traditional colours of red and white will be used in official match clothing — that is the home kit comprising shirt, shorts and socks.”