433futbol always looks forward to a new Croatia kit release. The 2024 Croatia home and away jersey is no exception. The home kit for this summer’s 2024 Euros is a throwback to the country’s iconic red-and-white checkers. But this time around, they’re BIG!
Look at those giant checkers.
Previous Croatia World Cup and Euro shirts adopted much smaller emblems from the coat of arms. The checkered elements on the 2014 World Cup kits and 1998 version are up there as two of our all-time favorite World Cup kits. But what explains Croatia’s popular use of the checkers?
Checking in on Croatia’s iconic red and white checks
Croatia played their first World Cup as an independent nation in 1998. The country celebrated the outing by prominently featuring the coat of arms shield on the football shirt, a historical nod to the country’s use of the red and white checkered symbol since the 15th century.
As it appears centered on the Croatian flag, the original Coat of arms shield contains 13 red and 12 white fields combined with five smaller shields representing the five historical regions within the country.
Meanwhile, the country’s football kit leverages one comprehensive shield that includes the acronym “HNS,” standing for Hrvatski Nogometni Savez, Croatia’s Football Federation. An old-school brown football icon dangles from the bottom.
Given the oversized checkered experimentation, the 2024 Croatia home kit has received mixed reviews thus far. Some fans also dislike the thick and loose V-collar. However, the blue-away version has won a lot more plaudits.
That’s because the 2024 Away Croatia away kit reverts back to the excess checkers in a wavy-horizonal format. The thin streams of red between the blue checkered hues also provide a nice touch.
The home and away Croatia Euro kits feature a white Nike swoosh on the right chest. White and blue shorts complete the respective kits. The ever-classy Croatian Glgaolitic alphabet typeface features the numbers and names on the back of both versions.
Photo: x/hns_cff
