Team GB’s controversially altered Union flag has sold out within just 48 hours despite facing a backlash.
The Union flag was produced with shades of pink and purple squiggles rather than the standard combination of St George’s cross, St Andrew’s saltire and St Patrick’s cross.
Designers introduced options which included different colour shades in a desire to “push the iconic red white and blue as far as we could”.
Olympic medallist Fatima Whitbread and England football legend Peter Shilton led the backlash.
The Union Jack has been changed for Team GBTwitterWhitbread told GB News: “Our forefathers went to war for us and fought for all the different things that we stand for now.”
However, despite the fury, the flags are now listed as ‘sold out’ on Team GB’s official fan shop.
Metal water bottles in the same colour scheme are also sold out but merchandise in the traditional red, white and blue are still available.
The British Olympic Association promised not to alter with the classic Union flag colours on their official 2024 Olympic kit.
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Olympian Fatima Whitbread voiced her disappointment with the Union flag rebrand
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“All Team GB athletes will wear the Union Jack as normal in Paris,” a BOA spokesperson said.
Adidas were the partners for the official Team GB kit and those designs were actually completed some two years ago.
However, the merchandise will only officially be unveiled by athletes later this month on April 17.
The sold out flags, which were branded as a ‘Paris Union Jack Supporters Flag’, cost £12.
The Union Jack was redesigned during the 2012 London Games
GETTY
The sold out metal water bottles were also priced at £17.50.
The outrage about Team GB came shortly after England’s football team received similar criticism for Nike’s decision to alter the colours of the flag of St George.
Despite the latest backlash about Team GB, the UK was represented by a reconstructed Union flag in 2012.
Shades of blue were changed from navy to light, with less white, and red only on some of the trim, and on socks and footwear.
The 2016 strip featured silhouettes of two lions, one in dark blue and the other in red, the floral emblems of each of the four home nations.
