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You’ve got some nerve, (the) Netherlands.
I just caught the “end” of a soccer game between the Netherlands and Ecuador, which ended in a draw. [Lame.]
And, the first thing I notice, which isn’t new, is how the “Nether” players are dressed in a sort of yellow-orange while the “Ecuador-ians” are dressed in dark blue and white. The Netherlands’ flag is red, white and blue, like so many nations. Ecuador’s flag is more yellow; there may be a blue streak, but it’s thin.
So, why do the “Nether” players get to wear “orange” (which looks more like a weak variety of tangerine or mandarin)?
I know. I’ve heard some story, long ago, about the origin of the color choice. But, why should Ecuador’s team look like YOUR team when they don’t have that strength of color in their flag? [I guess I felt the same way when I saw Aussie players wearing green and yellow, when their flag is mostly blue with splashes of British red and white.]
I just feel the Netherlands is (or are?…is the name a plural thing?) bullying other teams to wear colors that aren’t their own.
Isn’t the point of patriotism, in a way, to tote your nation’s colors? What would Americans be if they didn’t sport red, white and blue in some starry and/or striped fashion? They’d just be the mixed genetic mutts they are, hybrids of immigration.
In the NFL (American football), if the Green Bay Packers didn’t wear green (and yellow), who would they be? Old uniforms show them wearing yellow and blue. I guess yellow and blue make green. But, that is also odd. I know the team is named for where it’s based. Yet…it’s just a visual sense thing. You need to see the green to call them GREEN Bay (and the yellow for the “cheesehead” factor of what is still considered a cow/farming state). And, luckily, if another team also has green in its uniform, it’t not the same shade. The Seattle Seahawks have a blue-ish green. The New York Jets have a slightly more cash-like green paired with white. [If they ever sported yellow (or gold, to go with that cash green) instead of white, there MIGHT be a clash with the Packers.]
If the Netherlands charged into medieval battle, clad in orange, and their opponents were also dressed in orange (because that was the color they also carried on their banners), what would you say? How would that look? What would be the point of the battle? The battle of the orange? Who deserves to wear the orange? [Now, there’s an idea. Have two teams, at the World Cup, wear the same colors on the field…and let the winner claim the right to wear the orange. The loser must flip or discard the color. Just imagine two identical teams butting heads and legs. What a mess.]
So, even if the Netherlands has a story behind the orange, it’s not in their flag. And, I feel that’s unfair to the other nations. What if I come up with a good story for myself and say I must wear orange? What will the Netherlands do then? Sorry. I’m the orange. You have to be something else. [It sort of makes me think of every time I play a board game with family. If I pick a particular pawn or color, it may cause a fuss. It could upset the game and divide the group.]
How long before all flags become pointless?
Wait. Is that the secret plan? Is the Netherlands, as I’ve occasionally suspected, the hub of counter-intelligence, the double-agent capital of the world? Could their rebellious need to sport orange be the way to upend all nations and destroy patriotism? Could orange be the new anarchy? [You see what I did there, you obsessive watchers of non-broadcast television? I cannot call it cable TV, anymore, because too many voices are “ditching the cable.”]
I leave you with that food for thought. I’m going to go to the fridge and get something to eat…maybe a tangerine. 😛
But, seriously, you cannot be the orange team if your opponents have the yellow/orange flag. That’s just senseless…or audacious. What gives you the right, Netherlands, to force others to change their banner’s colors?
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