Jersey design captures essence of Anzac Day

For just the second time in the club’s history, the One New Zealand Warriors play their annual Anzac Day match at home when they host the Gold Coast Titans at Go Media Stadium next Thursday (4.00pm kick-off).

They’ll do so wearing a jersey capturing the spirit and meaning of Anzac, a design which is the result of a collaborative effort between the One New Zealand Warriors, Dynasty Sport, the New Zealand Defence Force and artist Dave Burke.

The last time the Warriors staged an Anzac Day contest was in 2015 – also against Gold Coast – to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Landings.

Next Thursday the players will don a jersey which honours the servicemen and servicewomen who have fought for New Zealand and Australia.

Several key design elements make up this jersey.

The first is the camouflage pattern, which is called the New Zealand Multi Terrain Pattern, the same camouflage pattern worn by the New Zealand Defence Force.

Traditionally, this pattern is a mix of earthy colours – greens, ochres and browns.

The NZDF agreed to a request for the pattern to be used and the colours modified to reflect the club’s main colour and pay tribute to the New Zealand flag that servicemen and servicewomen serve under.

Behind the soldier are rays of light symbolising the dawn of a brighter day and this also pays tribute to dawn parades held on both sides of the Tasman.

The silver fern, a powerful symbol of growth and hope, reaches upward toward the light. Here it also symbolises the different campaigns the NZDF has been involved in over the years.

The centre stalk of the fern features the Ode of Remembrance, commonly recited at Anzac Day services to commemorate wartime sacrifice in both New Zealand and Australia.

Several poppies are visible on the front of the jersey. During World War I the countryside in Flanders in Belgium was bombed over and over, turning the fields to mud and destruction, where very little or nothing could grow. Somehow in this desolate place poppies managed to find a way to grow and flourish in their thousands.

Canadian medical officer Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, wrote the poem, ‘In Flanders Fields’. Ever since then the poppy has been a symbol of remembrance and hope for a peaceful future and is worn as a show of support for the armed forces community.

The soldier is shown here, standing under the New Zealand flag, with his head bowed down reflecting on these words as a single tear rolls down his face: “We will remember them - Lest we forget”.

He wears a Kiwi ‘lemon squeezer’ hat and uniform worn by New Zealand’s soldiers during the Gallipoli campaign.