National flag and team colo(u)rs

Question for the Aussies in our midst: why does the national team wear green and yellow when the national flag is red, white and blue? I'm curious.

Are there other countries which do the same? If so, why? At least Australia is very consistent with the green and yellow so it's easy to find the athletes.

It seems that in the last few years, the US went a little off-filter with the colors on the team uniforms but, from what I've seen so far, are back on track with the same red, white and blue as our flag.

No idea why, but the Italians also seem to usually have blue kit despite theri flag being red, white and green.

Oh, and the Dutch with everything orange (certainly the fans are alway pretty noticable), but I think that´s a hostorical reason to do with their royal family (house of Orange).

I couldn't find anything about Australia's national colors, but one of the Aussies here should weigh in soon!

Right, the Netherlands has been ruled for quite some time by the House of Orange.

And here's Wikipedia's take on the Italian Azzurri.

Just as long as they don't wear blue or red shorts! See the "Why bike shorts are black" thread!

Australia's national colors are green and gold, derived from the green and gold of the "Golden Wattle" the Australian Floral Emblem.

Apparently green & gold have been associated with Australian Sports since the 1800s. Their flag's only been around since 1901 (though Red, White & BLue was around longer in the Union Jack)

The NZ contingent wears black..Although the/our flag is similar to Aust..

All based on the history of the All Blacks jersey. If i can find more info, I shall post the details.

Ah ha! The things I'm learning. It never dawned on me that national colors could be different than the country's flag.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Blacks

During one of my knee surgeries when I was 21, the RN assigned to my room was an ex-rugby player from England. Oooh my. :D