Today Bayern Munich are the "Reds" of Germany. Yet in its early days the team did not wear a red shirt at all. The story of its kit is full of changes, compromises and a few lucky strips.

A walkout in 1900

On 27 February 1900, eleven footballers walked out of the Munich gymnastics club MTV 1879. The reason was simple: the club would not let them join the football association. They were led by Franz John, a young man from Berlin.

That same evening they founded FC Bayern in a restaurant, the Gisela, on Fürstenstraße. The place is often called "Café Gisela", while official sources speak of a restaurant or tavern. In the end, 17 people signed the founding document.

White and blue, the colours of Bavaria

The first club statutes set white and blue as the club colours, the colours of the Bavarian flag. Sources differ on exactly what the players wore.

Some say the first match was played in blue and white. Others mention a white shirt with black shorts until 1905. Either way, there was no red yet.

1906 and the red shorts

The big change came in 1906, when Bayern merged with Münchner Sport-Club. MSC set one condition: the team had to wear its colours. So the players took the field in white shirts and red shorts.

That deal gave birth to the nickname "Die Roten", the Reds. In white shirts and red shorts Bayern also won their first German championship, in 1932, in the final against Eintracht Frankfurt.

The diamonds on the crest

The first crest was a monogram with the letters F, C, B and M intertwined. It was actually pinned on, so it could be removed when the shirt was washed. Much of the club archive was destroyed in a bombing raid in 1944, so some questions about the early crests remain open.

The Bavarian colours appeared on the crest in 1954. Today the Bayern crest is the red circle with the white and blue diamonds in the centre, a clear "thank you" to Bavaria.

The Beckenbauer and Müller era

The red shirt as we know it today became standard in the 1970s. Before that, the team had tried red-blue and red-white stripes. From 1974 onwards, the home kit has been mostly all red.

It was also the club's most glorious era. With Franz Beckenbauer as captain and goals from Gerd Müller, Bayern won three consecutive European Cups, in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

Shirts that made history

In 1983 Uli Hoeneß brought in a yellow and blue "Brazilian-style" shirt to break the jinx at Kaiserslautern's ground. Bayern won 1-0 and the kit became a legend. In 1996 an all-white shirt with a silver crest accompanied the UEFA Cup triumph against Bordeaux. In 1999 the silver away shirt became linked to the dramatic lost final against Manchester United.

The classic all-red, on the other hand, was the one that lifted the Champions League in 2013 and 2020. In 2025, for the club's 125th anniversary, the team wore a dark red commemorative shirt. Among its details was Beckenbauer's retired number 5.

The shirt as a piece of history

A Bayern shirt is not just red. It carries the 1906 deal, the colours of Bavaria and the Beckenbauer nights. Retro and anniversary editions are among collectors' favourite pieces.

See our Bayern Munich jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: The Allianz Arena in Munich – Richard Bartz, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5.