How did we miss that enormous badge at launch?

AS Nancy Lorraine have gone big for their new third and fourth kits, placing a superb oversized rendition of the club’s famous chardon, or thistle, front and centre.

And it really is front and centre.

The textured thistle stands alone without the surrounding crest, harking back to the wildly oversized emblem that adorned the Lorraine red during the late 1960s.

We love an alternate badge. We say it all the time, but we do.

Atalanta recently went back to 1963 to revive the full-stride version of La Dea for their own throwback release:

https://www.thekitsman.com/2026/10/03/atalanta-throwback-kit-1963-goddess-badge/

Nancy have approached their archives differently. Rather than simply bringing back an old crest, they’ve taken one of the club’s most recognisable symbols and massively increased its presence on the shirt.

It works particularly well because the rest of the design gives it room to breathe.

Behind the thistle sits a much more subtle reference to Nancy itself, with the pattern across both shirts replicating the vaulted ceilings of the city’s Ducal Palace.

The third places everything against a deep blue backdrop, complete with a contrasting polo collar, while the fourth flips the mood entirely with pink.

There might even be another little thistle reference hiding in plain sight. The pink polo collar against the blue shirt bears more than a passing resemblance to a flower sitting above its stem. Intentional or not, it’s a neat touch.

Yet our eyes keep coming back to that massive badge.

Football shirt crests have gradually settled into a fairly predictable size and position, which perhaps explains why something like this immediately feels different. Make a badge too small and it can disappear into the shirt. Make it too big and there’s always the danger of it looking like something from a knock-off market stall.

Nancy might have landed somewhere near the sweet spot.

So let’s settle something extraordinarily important.

What is the PERFECT size for a football shirt badge?

Small and understated? The traditional size we’re accustomed to? Or absolutely bloody massive?

And while we’re at it, which club has the best badge in football?

Another badge variant bringing a little prick of excitement.

Credit; @asnancylorraine @decathlon

#thistle #palace #nancy #lorraine #footballshirts #thekitsman

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