"Colour of Your Jumper" is a song written by Australian singer songwriter

Archie Roach Archibald William Roach (8 January 1956 – 30 July 2022) was an Australian singer, songwriter and Aboriginal activist. Often referred to as "Uncle Archie", Roach was a Gunditjmara and Bundjalung elder who campaigned for the rights of Abori ...

in 1993, following an incident where

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

Australian Football League player

Nicky Winmar Neil Elvis "Nicky" Winmar (born 25 September 1965) is a former Australian rules footballer, best known for his career for and the in the Australian Football League (AFL), as well as in the West Australian Football League. Growing up in ...

was receiving racial abuse from spectators resulting in Winmar lifting up his jumper and, facing to the crowd, pointed to his skin. A demo of this version was later included on the 2013 compilation album ''

Creation Creation may refer to: Religion *''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing * Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it * Creationism, the belief tha ...

''. In May 2010, Roach performed the song at Melbourne's

Federation Square Federation Square (colloquially Fed Square) is a venue for arts, culture and public events on the edge of the Melbourne central business district. It covers an area of at the intersection of Flinders and Swanston Streets built above busy ra ...

as part of the Long Walk festivities. In May 2013, Roach re-recorded and released "Colour of Your Jumper" which was released as a single. Roach performed the song live on

The Marngrook Footy Show ''The Marngrook Footy Show'' was a sport panel show broadcast in Australia focusing on Australian rules football and aimed at Indigenous viewers. Debuting on television in 2007 after 10 years on radio, the show first aired on NITV and on Channe ...

on 23 May 2013 and at the

AFL Indigenous Round The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling ...

Saturday "

Dreamtime at the 'G The Dreamtime at the 'G is an annual Australian rules football match between Australian Football League clubs and . Since the 2007 AFL Season, 2007 season the match has been held annually on the Saturday night of the AFL's "Indigenous Round", ...

" game on 25 May 2013 between

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington * Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport * Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United Ki ...

and

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. The song was re-recorded again and included on Roach's 2018 album, ''

Dancing with My Spirit ''Dancing with My Spirit'' is the eighth studio album by Australian singer songwriter Archie Roach. The album was recorded in the 1990s and for a variety of reasons, remained ‘unreleased’ until 2018, where it was released in April 2018 and ...

''.

Background

On 17 April 1993 at

Victoria Park, Melbourne Victoria Park is a sports venue in Abbotsford, a suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The stadium is oval shaped and was built to host Australian rules football and cricket matches. In the past Victoria Park featured a cycling track, ...

, an Australian Football League match between Collingwood and St Kilda Football Club was taking place. St Kilda player

was racially abused by members of the Collingwood cheersquad, who yelled for him to "go and sniff some petrol" and "go

walkabout Walkabout is a rite of passage in Australian Aboriginal society, during which males undergo a journey during adolescence, typically ages 10 to 16, and live in the wilderness for a period as long as six months to make the spiritual and traditiona ...

where you came from". At the conclusion of the game, Winmar lifted up his jumper and, facing to the crowd, pointed to his skin. The following day, a photograph of Winmar's gesture was published by '' Sunday Age'' and ''

Sunday Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the Murdoch owned News Corp. The ''Herald Sun ...

''. The gesture, was described as a "powerful statement", an "anti-racist symbol", and one of the "most poignant" images in Australian sport, has been credited as a catalyst for the movement against racism in Australian football. The event inspired Roach to write the song "Colour of Your Jumper", and in particular, racist comments from then Collingwood Football Club president Allan McAllister. Roach said “When Nicky lifted his jumper that day and pointed to his black skin in defiance of the racial abuse directed at him and other indigenous players in 1993, it made me sad and angry that this champion would have to do that. More importantly, I think, is what the jumper meant to Nicky and many others on that fateful day. What I saw was not just an Aboriginal man proud of his heritage and people, but a young man who had made it, an elite sportsman in the greatest game, Australian Rules Football, the AFL, who played his heart out for that jumper.”

Track listing

Release history

References

{{authority control Archie Roach songs Mushroom Records singles 1993 songs 2013 singles Songs about Australia Australian rules football culture Australian rules football songs Songs against racism and xenophobia Indigenous Australian sport