Juventus F.C. - Colours, badge and nicknames

Juventus' original home colors.

Juventus have played in black and white striped shirts, with white shorts, sometimes black shorts since 1903. Originally, they played in pink shirts with a black tie, which only occurred due to the wrong shirts being sent to them, the father of one of the players made the earliest shirts, but continual washing faded the color so much that in 1903 the club sought to replace them.

Juventus asked one of their team members, Englishman John Savage, if he had any contacts in England who could supply new shirts in a color that would better withstand the elements. He had a friend who lived in Nottingham, who being a Notts County supporter, shipped out the black and white striped shirts to Turin.

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Juve have worn the shirts ever since, considering the colors to be aggressive and powerful.

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Juventus' current third kit.

Juventus Football Club's official emblem has undergone different and small modifications since the second decade of twentieth century. The last modification of the Old Lady's badge took place before 2004–05 season. At the present time, the emblem of the team is conformed to a black-and-white oval shield; a type of Italian shield specially used by ecclesiastics, it is divided in five vertical stripes: two white stripes and three black stripes, inside of this are the following elements; in its superior section, the name of the society superimposed a white convex section, over golden curvature (gold for honour). The white silhouette of a charging bull is in the inferior section of the oval shield, superimposed a black old French shield; the charging bull is a symbol of the Comune di Torino. There is also a black silhouette of a mural crown above the black spherical triangle's base is a reminiscence to "Augusta Tourinorum", the old city of the Roman era which the present capital of Piedmont region is its cultural heiress.

Juventus F.C. crest in 2004.

In the past, the convex section of the emblem had a blue color (another symbol of Turin) and, furthermore, its shape was concave. The old French shield and the mural crown, also in the inferior section of the emblem had, considerably, a greater size with respect to the present. The two Golden Stars for Sport Excellence were located above the convex & concave section of Juventus' emblem. During the 1980s, the club emblem was the silhouette of a zebra, to both sides of the equide's head, the two golden stars and, above this badge, forming an arc, the clubs name.

During its history, the club has acquired a number of nicknames, la Vecchia Signora (the Old Lady) being the best example. The "old" part of the nickname is a pun on Juventus which means "youth" in Latin. It was derived from the age of the Juventus' star players towards the middle of 1930s. The "lady" part of the nickname is what fans of the club referred to it as affectionately prior to the 1930s. The club is also nicknamed la Fidanzata d'Italia (the Girlfriend of Italy), because over the years they have received a high level of support from Southern Italian immigrant workers (particularly from Naples and Palermo), who arrived in Turin to work for Fiat since the 1930s. Other nicknames include; i bianconeri (the black-and-whites) and le zebre (the zebras) in reference to Juventus' colors.