Spanish National Team Crest

Mistake found on the badge on the Spanish strip

Unlike most national football federations, which use their own badge, the Spanish national team sports the same crest as the Spanish national flag. That is, the Spanish crest, which in its current version has represented the country since 1981, and is based on the historical evolution of the emblems of the country. However, subsequent to winning the last European Championships, and as a consequence of a revision for the Federation's centenary, the football team's badge now contains a basic mistake, as revealed by a historian specialised in heraldry.

The detail is small, though not without interest, and is found right at the heart of the crest, within the escutcheon, the 'shield within the shield'. In simple, non-heraldic, terms, it is the small blue area at the centre of the design and which contains three yellow fleurs-de-lis. The version found on the Spanish flag is that which represents the House of Bourbon in Spain, whilst the version on the Spanish team's shirt is that of the French line of the House of Bourbon. The difference is in the red border which distinguishes the Spanish Bourbons (Bourbon-Anjou) from the French line. The error therefore may be insignificant for those Spaniards who don't mind sharing their country's victories with their neighbours, but is no doubt important for anyone who believes in getting things right. God, as has been observed, is found in the details.

The historian who discovered the error sent a letter on 10 August 2010 to Ángel Maria Villar, president of the Spanish Football Federation, advising him of the mistake in the crest. So far no answer has been forthcoming, nor has the mistake been corrected. It's hard to believe that the French or the British would react so impassively to a bull dressed in the 'Tricolore' or the Union Jack, but then this is Spain, and that is Villar.