Italian athletes wear blue because it’s a historic royal color of Italy—“azzurro Savoia” (Savoy blue), tied to the former ruling House of Savoy, which became the symbolic national color long before and then alongside the modern tricolour flag.

Origins: From Royals to Azzurri

When Italy unified in the 19th century as the Kingdom of Italy, the royal family was the House of Savoy.

Their coat of arms was a white cross on a red shield, bordered with a distinctive deep blue; that blue was added as a devotional color linked to the Virgin Mary, traditionally depicted in blue.

Over time, this Savoy blue became strongly associated with the monarchy and, by extension, with the Italian state itself.

Even after Italy became a republic in 1946, the color remained as a sort of “civil tradition” rather than a political symbol, so it survived the end of the monarchy and kept its place in sport and national imagery.

How It Became the Sports Color

In the early 1900s, when national teams were being formed, Italian sports bodies had to choose a color for uniforms: they could have gone with red, white, or green from the flag, but they opted for royal blue instead.

Key moments:

  • The national football team adopted blue in 1911, giving birth to the nickname “gli Azzurri” (the Blues).
  • With the creation of the Italian National Olympic Committee in 1914, there was a push for all Italian athletes to compete in the same color, and blue gradually became standard across Olympic sports.
  • By the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, blue kits were essentially the norm for Italian teams.

Alternate kits (often white with blue trim, sometimes black or red) do appear, but blue is the default and most iconic choice.

Why There’s No Blue on the Flag

The Italian flag is green, white, and red, with no blue at all, which is exactly why the question keeps coming up and becomes a recurring “fun fact” in sports and forum discussions.

The short explanation:

  • The flag reflects republican and revolutionary symbolism.
  • The blue uniforms reflect the older royal and cultural tradition that pre-dates the republic.

So, Italy ends up with two overlapping symbol systems: the tricolour for the nation and azzurro for teams, fans, and much of its sporting and pop culture identity.

Cultural Meaning Today

Today, blue is almost a shorthand for Italian sport and pride:

  • “Gli Azzurri” is used for football, rugby, and other national teams.
  • In big tournaments (like the 2006 World Cup or recent Euros), blue jerseys and merchandise sell out as fans look for anything in that color to show support.
  • Local clubs and youth teams often use blue on special occasions to link themselves to the national tradition, and for many Italians the honest answer to “why blue?” is simply “it’s always been this way.”

In this sense, blue is less about heraldry now and more about a shared emotional identity—when Italian athletes walk out in blue, everyone instantly knows who they are supposed to represent.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.