Winnipeg Blue Bombers to Wear Orange Jerseys for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are ditching the “Blue” this Friday when they host their fourth annual “Orange Shirt Game” against the Edmonton Elks in a CFL game at Princess Auto Stadium.

The team will sport the orange tops for warmups as part of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, which is originally and still colloquially known as “Orange Shirt Day,” a Canadian holiday to recognize the legacy of the Canadian Indian residential school system. September 30 is the actual day the holiday will be celebrated, but the Bombers will don the orange jerseys in warmups for their Friday night game against the Elks, who will also wear orange tops.

According to the Canadian government, “Orange Shirt Day is an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day intended to raise awareness of the individual, family and community inter-generational impacts of residential schools, and to promote the concept of ‘Every Child Matters.’ The orange shirt is a symbol of the stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem experienced by Indigenous children over generations. On September 30, we encourage all Canadians to wear orange to honour the thousands of Survivors of residential schools.”

It’s not just the Bombers who are celebrating the day. Each CFL team will wear Indigenous-designed logos to honor the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation this weekend. The entire Canadian Football League will particpate, as all nine teams will wear Indigenous-designed logos (aside from Calgary, which is on a bye week and previously wore their commemorative logo) during this weekends’ games to commemorate the holiday.

All the logos — including the Blue Bombers star blanket, designed by Dené Sinclair — were created by local Indigenous artists. All teams will also wear orange jerseys in the pre-game warm-ups, with the jerseys then being auctioned off with the proceeds donated to support local Indigenous groups, organizations or programming.

Here’s a look at each teams’ special logos:

For a more detailed look, click here.

The Toronto Argonauts helmet will look like this:

And here are a couple looks at the orange warm up jerseys the Bombers will be wearing this Friday night:

For Winnipeg, the funds raised from the auction will be donated to the Winnipeg Aboriginal Sport Achievement Centre. As noted above, other teams will support different Indigenous causes.

Here’s how the orange jersey looked in a previous Orange Shirt Game warmup. It’s difficult to see, but the helmet’s logo features the Star Blanket logo.