Cruzeiro start the new year with a double celebration. The club was founded in Belo Horizonte on 2 January 1921, and in 2027 it turns 106. Yet for its first twenty years it had another name and another colour. Before becoming "A Raposa" with stars on its chest, the team wore green and spoke Italian.

Palestra Itália, the immigrants' club

The founders were members of Belo Horizonte's Italian community, and the club was named Società Sportiva Palestra Itália, with Aurelio Noce as its first president. Until 1925 only Italians could play for it. The colours were naturally those of the Italian flag: a green shirt, white shorts and socks in green or red depending on the season. The badge was a diamond in green, white and red with the initials PI.

The light green "parakeet"

From 1928 the shirt became lighter, with a white collar and red cuffs. That shade earned the team the nickname periquito, the parakeet. Throughout the period up to 1941 the changes were small, mostly to the badge and the shade. There were never any stars on the green shirt; they would arrive together with the new name.

1942: a decree changes everything

When Brazil entered the Second World War, a federal decree banned names referring to enemy nations. In the first match after the decision, on 1 February 1942, the team took the field in a blue shirt with three white horizontal stripes, with no badge and no name. The temporary names Palestra Mineiro and Ypiranga followed, until Cruzeiro Esporte Clube was settled on 7 October 1942. The idea came from Oswaldo Pinto Coelho, inspired by the Southern Cross constellation. Blue and white served as a compromise with the Italian members, as blue was also linked to the House of Savoy.

Five stars on the chest

In 1950 the crest became a blue circle with five white stars arranged like the constellation. In 1959 the shirt was all blue and the stars were sewn loosely onto it, without any outline. That image remained a trademark until 1998, when the badge took the place of the loose stars on the chest. In 2006 a crown was added to recall the 2003 treble: the Minas Gerais state title, the Brazilian Cup and the Brazilian league in the same season. The white shirt remained the second kit, and in recent seasons the shirts have been made by adidas.

From Tostão to Santiago

The Mineirão opened in 1965, and a year later Cruzeiro made history there. On 30 November 1966, in the Taça Brasil final, they thrashed Pelé's Santos 6-2, leading 5-0 at half-time, with Dirceu Lopes scoring three. In the return leg they won again, 3-2. Tostão remains the club's all-time top scorer with 249 goals. Ten years later, on 30 July 1976 in Santiago, Joãozinho gave them a 3-2 win over River Plate and the first Copa Libertadores. The second came in 1997, with a 1-0 win over Sporting Cristal at the Mineirão.

Ronaldo's home

On 25 May 1993 a sixteen-year-old made his debut in Poços de Caldas. Ronaldo Nazário scored 56 goals in 58 games for Cruzeiro before being sold to PSV in 1994. Those years are recalled by the 'TEAM' Ronaldo t-shirt. The club, which holds a record six Brazilian Cups, was relegated for the first time in 2019 and came back as Série B champions in 2022. In between, Ronaldo bought the football department, before selling it to Pedro Lourenço in April 2024.

Happy birthday to Cruzeiro and to their fans, the "Nação Azul". From the green of the immigrants to the five stars of the south, their shirt always has a story to tell.

See Cruzeiro shirts and merchandise at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Mineirão – Rodrigo Lima/Portal da Copa, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0.