Crystal Palace’s red and blue colours are the product of a 1970s rebrand under Malcolm Allison, but their roots stretch back through claret-and-blue Villa influence and even the original Crystal Palace building itself.
Early Colours: White, Blue and Villa Claret
When the modern professional club was formed, Palace initially wore white shirts with blue shorts, reflecting the blue-and-white ironwork of the original Crystal Palace exhibition hall in Sydenham. Soon after, the club adopted claret and sky blue, influenced by Aston Villa, whose employee Edmund Goodman played a major role in Palace’s early development. Through the first half of the 20th century the team cycled between claret-and-blue, all white with black shorts and other combinations, but not yet the bold red-and-blue stripes seen today.
Malcolm Allison’s 1973 Rebrand
The decisive change came with manager Malcolm Allison in 1973. After relegation from Division Two, Allison set out to “relaunch” the club by:
- Changing the nickname from “The Glaziers” to “The Eagles”, inspired by Benfica’s eagle symbol.
- Dropping claret and sky blue in favour of a striking red and dark blue scheme.
- Introducing a new eagle crest and vertical red-and-blue striped shirts modelled on Barcelona’s colours.
Historical kit records show that from the 1973–74 season Palace’s home strip became predominantly red and blue, and they have stayed in some variant of those colours ever since, apart from a centenary claret-and-blue throwback in 2005–06.
Was Red and Blue Totally New?
Club historians note that red and blue had appeared before Allison’s revolution. For the 1937–38 season, contemporary programme covers and reports described Palace wearing red and blue vertical stripes, suggesting a one-off experiment decades before the official switch. However, it was Allison who turned red and blue from occasional curiosity into the club’s permanent identity, tying it to a new badge, nickname and more ambitious image.
Red and Blue in Modern Palace Culture
Since the 1970s, red and blue have become central to how Palace present themselves:
- Home kits almost always feature vertical stripes, diagonal bands or bold blocks in red and blue.
- The eagle crest is drawn in those colours, with occasional tweaks (e.g. simplified white outlines) but the same core palette.
- Fans, fanzines and murals regularly use the phrase “Red and Blue Army”, reflecting how deeply the colour scheme has embedded itself in supporter culture.
Even modern kit retrospectives and club features talk about “Allison’s red and blue Eagles” as the point where the contemporary Crystal Palace identity truly took flight.
Crystal Palace Colours Timeline
Through Allison’s bold switch and decades of continuity since, red and blue have become inseparable from Crystal Palace’s identity, visually embodying the club’s ambition, South London pride and “Eagles” nickname.
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