Britons Are Repping U.K.'s Health Service Through NHS Branded Apparel

By Brendan Menapace

As a sign of appreciation during the fight against COVID-19 in the U.K., Britons have been literally applauding their National Health Service workers every day. The practice has spread over to the U.S., where Americans are giving our own frontline workers rounds of applause. But in the U.K., goodwill toward the NHS has also translated into a boom in branded apparel featuring the organization's logo..

Since there are still no sports right now, folks in the U.K. seem to have found new ways to wear their support. It feels a bit like supporting a team, too, with brand logos like Nike right next to the NHS logo. But, instead of the bitter rivalries in sports like football (or “soccer,” as we Americans call it), everyone supports the same team.

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That logo above came from a 2015 design made by Sports Banger, created to support junior NHS doctors, according to Refinery 29. The NHS logo seems at home on streetwear-inspired apparel, too. The simple block text and color background is reminiscent of Supreme.

In 2017, those Sports Banger T-shirt designs saw another boom in popularity during that year’s election. This time the design still had the Nike swoosh, but included the red color scheme of the Labour Party and its leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and at the height of the world’s appreciation for health care workers, Sports Banger is reissuing the original 2015 design to support ICU teams at five London hospitals and the Mortimer Market HIV center.

The company’s founder, Jonny Banger, even wrote a nice little poem to accompany the item’s place on the webstore.

i was born in the NHS
my mum worked for the NHS
the NHS tried to save my brother's life
the NHS saved my life
the NHS saved my dad's life
the NHS tried to save my mum's life
the NHS saved my best friends life
the NHS saved my other best friends life

All of the money raised from the design will go toward delivering juices and healthy food every day for the next three months.

Sports Banger isn't alone in its appreciation of the NHS through merchandise. Refinery 29 also highlighted items like this scarf, created by designer Victoria Boyle and DJ Armando Mehrkar. (We told you it feels like sports apparel!) Their design also includes some cute little stickers, too.

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When brands can come together to support a good cause, raise awareness for the people who work tirelessly to literally keep society afloat, and promote healthy practices for all of us fortunate enough to be able to socially distance and maintain our lives from afar, it creates a unity that you won’t find in a sports shirt or a band tee. It’s something everyone can root for. It makes protecting your fellow citizen cool.