Australia has been told to hang up its beloved green and gold in favour of a bold new look: khaki.
Yes, khaki. The colour of safari shorts, Steve Irwin’s work uniform, and that one pair of pants every dad insists is “practical”.
The pitch comes from Aussie start-up founder and YouTuber Charlie Gearside, who’s on a mission to rebrand the “Land Down Under” with 50 ideas to make Australia the best again – including changing the flag, launching a third supermarket, invading New Zealand and rethinking our national colours.
Gearside argues that green and gold is overcrowded territory, with Brazil, South Africa and Jamaica already rocking the combo. His alternative? A khaki-led palette, keeping green and gold as accents, essentially making every national sporting side look like they’ve either just stepped off a crocodile-wrangling tour or finished installing a Hills hoist.
“And obviously you can see here we’ll keep green and gold as a secondary colour,” Gearside explained while unveiling digital mock-ups, including one of cricketer Travis Head mid-celebration. “Imagine our teams running out looking unmistakably Aussie. Looking like Steve Irwin. I think it would massively strengthen our national identity.”
For a nation that treats green and gold like a sacred Vegemite recipe, the suggestion is considered sacrilege by many. After all, the colours have been worn proudly since the men’s cricket team debuted them on a 1928 UK tour, and were officially declared the national palette in 1984 by Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen and Prime Minister Bob Hawke. Straying too far toward canary yellow has been enough to trigger public outrage in the past. Just ask the Boomers, Opals or Matildas, whose recent “creative” kits drew heavy fire.
But khaki isn’t completely unprecedented. The Aussie Paralympic team donned khaki polos, white shorts, brown blazers and Akubra hats at last year’s Paris Games opening ceremony, looking like they’d just polished off a lamington buffet before hitting the stadium.
While some viewers of Gearside’s video called the idea “somewhere between sensible and batshit insane”, others admitted the military-meets-backyard-Bunnings aesthetic grew on them. One even suggested adding ochre red to the mix “just to make it pop”.
Gearside insists his aim isn’t just to stir the pot, but to spark optimism and unity in a country where, as he puts it, “everyone’s just at each other’s throats”. Still, given that the debate over national colours joins the ever-divisive flag, anthem, and Australia Day on the “stuff to argue about” list, khaki might be facing a tougher battle than the Wallabies.
Whether this vision for “New Australia” gains traction or gets filed alongside “create an inland sea” and “ban government social media accounts”, one thing’s certain: if the national teams ever do suit up in khaki, the opposition won’t know if they’re facing a sporting powerhouse… or a fully armed safari squad.
Images: YouTube / Gearside
