Why are right-wing rioters in Brazil wearing Seleçao shirts?

When supporters of Brazil's former far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro surrounded the presidential palace and stormed congress and the Supreme Court on Sunday, they did so while wearing the yellow shirts of the country's national football team and holding aloft flags connected to the side. 

Thousands of protestors overran police in the football team’s iconic canary-coloured jersey just a week after the inauguration of Brazil's president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in an attempt to instigate a military coup d'état and reinstate Bolsonaro as president.

Police eventually gained control, arresting hundreds of people as they search for more individuals involved in the illegal protests. The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) also publicly condemned the far-right rioters and their use of the yellow shirt.

“The Brazilian national team shirt is a symbol of the joy of our people,” the CBF said. “It’s to cheer, energise and love the country.

“The CBF is a non-partisan and democratic entity. We encourage that the shirt be used to unite and not divide Brazilians.”

However, the riots highlighted how the Brazil shirt has increasingly become associated with the far-right revolutionaries in the country.

Why are people from the far-right wearing Brazil shirts?

The Brazilian national team shirt became the symbol for the far-right in 2013, during protests against the left-wing Workers Party by unsatisfied portions of the population. 

Then, after the impeachment of former president Dilma Rousseff, who served from 2011 until the end of 2016, the symbol of the shirt intensified. She spent the final seven months of her time in office suspended, after being charged with criminal administrative misconduct and disregard for the federal budget. 

Rousseff's supporters regularly wore the yellow shirt to protest her impeachment, before Jair Blosonaro made it even more synonymous with the far-right.

Jair Bolsonaro served as Brazil's president for three years, between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2022, and, while campaigning to become president in 2018, he used the shirt and national flag as a symbol to his supporters. 

After being voted in as president, on a visit to US president Donald Trump, Bolsonaro even handed him a Brazil shirt, resonating even further with his supporters.

Additionally, ahead of the 2022 Brazilian presidential election in October, Bolsonaro urged people to "wear yellow". Many of his far-right supporters cast their vote while wearing the national team's shirt. 

With Neymar also a supporter of Bolsonaro, too, the symbol became entrenched in society. The Paris-Saint Germain star is Brazil's most recognisable players, and, as a result, held a huge influence over the citizens of the nation. 

Ultimately, everything has culminated in thousands of supporters of the right-wing in Brazil storming the country's capital, Brasilia, clad in yellow with the national flag draped across themselves.

What now?

Since president Lula was elected into office on October 30, he has since attempted to reclaim the yellow shirt. During Brazil's World Cup 2022 group game against Serbia, he wore the national team shirt with the number 13 on the back, which represents his Workers' Party. 

“We can’t be ashamed of wearing our green and yellow shirt,” Lula told reporters. “(It) doesn’t belong to one particular candidate. It doesn’t belong to one particular party. Green and yellow are the colours of 213 million citizens who love this country.”

Despite his efforts, Lula couldn't stop the protestors from storming Brasilia, while wearing the national team shirt. However, efforts are being made to associate it with the entire country, and not just far-right Bolsonaro supporters.

Multiple high-profile people in Brazil wore the shirt during Lula's election campaign, and continue to do so in an attempt to remove his symbolic virtue. CBF have also launched a campaign called "Energia" that seeks to depoliticise the shirt.