A brown shirt and a skull and crossbones. At any other club it would sound strange, but at St. Pauli it is identity. This is the story of a small Hamburg club that became a global symbol.

From a gymnastics club to 1910

The club's roots go back to 1899, to an informal group of football lovers within the gymnastics club Hamburg-St. Pauli Turnverein 1862. The official founding, as St. Pauli TV, took place on 15 May 1910.

An independent football club under the name St. Pauli was created later, in 1924. The team's home is the legendary Millerntor, close to the port and the Reeperbahn district.

Brown and white: the most unusual colours

Very few teams in Europe wear brown. St. Pauli have played in brown and white since 1910, with a little red as a secondary colour.

We found no documented explanation for the origin of the colours. What is certain is that brown became a trademark, while fans also love black, which often appears on third kits.

Squats, punk and the Hafenstraße

In 1981 activists occupied twelve buildings on the Hafenstraße, near the stadium, to save the cheap housing from redevelopment. The police tried many times to remove them, but the neighbourhood gradually embraced them.

The squatters discovered the team almost by chance and started going to matches. An alternative fan scene grew around them. The fans themselves said there were "no fights and no neo-Nazis" there.

Doc Mabuse's skull and crossbones

According to the most widespread version, around 1986 a squatter and punk singer known as Doc Mabuse brought a pirate flag to the Millerntor. The details, however, remain hazy and the story works more as a legend.

In 1989 Steph Braun, a screen printer in Hamburg, designed the skull and crossbones with the word "ST. PAULI" underneath. It is said he took the skull from an old medical anatomy book. The media began calling the team the "Pirates of the League" and a "cult club".

From banners to the official logo

Braun registered the design in 1996. In September 1999 the club bought the rights, to protect itself from counterfeits and to control its merchandise. From then on the skull and crossbones became an official logo.

Today you will find it almost everywhere, from shirts to Christmas baubles. Some fans, of course, have criticised the commercialisation of the symbol.

Social stance and the Bundesliga

In 1991 the members' general assembly decided to ban neo-Nazis from the stadium and made anti-fascism official policy. St. Pauli was the first club in Germany to officially ban far-right activity at its ground. In 2009 it also became the first German club with written fundamental guiding principles.

On the pitch, the team was promoted to the Bundesliga in the 2023–24 season, after 13 years away, and finished 14th in 2024–25. In May 2026 they were relegated again to the 2. Bundesliga, without losing any of their aura.

A shirt that is a piece of history

The St. Pauli shirt is not measured in trophies. It is a way of life, part of Hamburg's punk scene and one of the most recognisable symbols of football culture. That is why it is worn by people who may never have seen a match at the Millerntor.

See our St. Pauli jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: The Millerntor before St. Pauli v Magdeburg (2022) – Vincenzo.togni, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.