Texas Rangers Flag

July 5, 2010 7:48 PM

What's the deal with the bleeding blue on the Texas Rangers uniforms?

The current Rangers uniforms have a waving Texas flag on the left sleeve, and for some reason the blue from the left field extends into the red bottom right field. Why?

Example 1

Example 2

posted by erikgrande to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (8 answers total)

I don't know the answer, but if you don't get a satisfactory response here, you might contact Paul Lukas at the Uni Watch Blog, which is obsessively single-minded in its coverage of athletic uniform aesthetics.
posted by .kobayashi. at 7:52 PM on July 5, 2010

I think that's supposed to be the back side of the flag in shadow. It seems that way based on this image.
posted by logicpunk at 8:07 PM on July 5, 2010 [2 favorites]

If you check out my old high school classmate's sportslogos.net, it looks to me like it's intended to be the reverse side of the waving flag. Seems like a weird design choice, though.
posted by PercussivePaul at 8:07 PM on July 5, 2010

It's possibly a subtle reference to the Bonnie Blue flag, which inspired the first flag of the Republic of Texas. According to galleryoftherepublic.com:

As the first flag of the Southern Cause, the famous Bonnie Blue flag was an elegant and distinctive design that was used by Terry's Texas Rangers, perhaps the most valorous regiment from the Lone Star State.
posted by Rhaomi at 8:16 PM on July 5, 2010

Best answer: Hot damn, a Rangers question on AskMe.

logicpunk's image is correct; it is the back side of a waving flag. Have a look at the flag on my authentic Michael Young jersey.

GO RANGERS!
posted by fireoyster at 9:25 PM on July 5, 2010

Is the backside of the Texas flag all blue? Because there is no way the blue would be located in that area otherwise. That's some horrible design.
posted by cloeburner at 7:29 AM on July 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

The back side is not blue. I think they're using blue to represent a shadow without introducing an additional color just for the shadow.
posted by kidbritish at 8:30 AM on July 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

Agree with kidbritish---the 'bleeding' section on fireoyster's jersey is visibly darker, suggestive of the shadow that would likely be cast on the back of a flag that was rippling in the wind...
posted by FlyingMonkey at 2:34 PM on July 15, 2010