Inter was born out of a disagreement and took its colours from the sky. Its black and blue shirt has been through international dreams, political censorship and some of the greatest nights in European football. Let's see how.

A breakaway from Milan

On 9 March 1908, a group of members of Milan Cricket and Football Club, today's AC Milan, decided to leave. They wanted to be able to field more foreign players. The meeting took place at the Orologio restaurant in Milan, with 44 founding members.

The name they chose said it all: Internazionale. A club open to Italians and foreigners alike, without discrimination.

The painter Muggiani and the night sky

Among the founders was Giorgio Muggiani, a painter, designer and Futurist artist. The team's colours and its first crest are credited to him. He is said to have chosen blue partly because it was the opposite of Milan's red.

The best-known version links the colours to the night of the founding. Black is the night, blue the sky and gold the stars. Inter's official website adopts this symbolism, although we could not find the exact words attributed to Muggiani in an official source.

The first crest

The first crest, from 1908 to 1928, had the letters F, C, I and M layered on top of each other on a gold background. Around them were two concentric black and blue circles.

It was an Art Nouveau piece, influenced by the crests of English clubs. Muggiani's design later returned, for example in the periods 1963–1979 and 1989–1999.

Ambrosiana: the white shirt with the red cross

In 1928 the Fascist regime took offence at a name that hinted at "internationalism". Inter merged with Unione Sportiva Milanese and became Società Sportiva Ambrosiana, after Saint Ambrose, the patron saint of Milan.

In the 1928–29 season the team wore a white shirt with a red cross, inspired by the city's flag. But the black and blue was back as early as 1929. After the Second World War the name Internazionale returned too.

Herrera's Grande Inter

In 1960 the Argentine Helenio Herrera, nicknamed "Il Mago", the Wizard, arrived from Barcelona. With him the legendary Grande Inter was born.

The team won two consecutive European Cups, in 1964 and 1965, along with two Intercontinental Cups. The black and blue shirt became a symbol of European greatness.

The 2010 treble

José Mourinho took charge in June 2008. In the 2009–10 season Inter won the league, the Coppa Italia and the Champions League, beating Bayern 2–0 in the final in Madrid.

That made them the first and only Italian team to win the treble. For many fans, that shirt is the most precious in the club's history.

A shirt that is a piece of history

From "Nerazzurri" to "Beneamata", Inter has many nicknames, but they all start with the colours. An Inter shirt, retro or modern, is a piece of that night in 1908, of the Grande Inter and of 2010. That is why collectors all over the world hunt for it.

See our Inter jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: San Siro during an Inter match in 2019 – Vincenzo.togni, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.