The Vancouver Canucks have unveiled a bold new warm-up jersey designed to celebrate the upcoming Lunar New Year welcoming the year of the tiger.
The bright red jersey features the Canucks logo, rendered in gold embroidery, transforming into a tiger, along with shoulder patches inspired by the Millennium Gate in Vancouver’s historic Chinatown.
The jersey was designed by Vancouver artist, author and entrepreneur Trevor Lai, who said the tiger leaping from the water was intended as a symbol of power, leadership and change.
“By transforming the Canucks’ orca into the tiger, it’s to imagine that we can become anything we want to be, including a better ally as we celebrate the Chinese community,” Lai said in a statement provided by the team.
Inside the Millennium Gate shoulder patches, the jersey incorporates the Chinese name for the Canucks, 加人队 (jia ren dui).
Lai took elements from those characters to add more symbolism to the jersey.
“加 is the same first character for Canada, and so I used different blossoms to represent the diversity of Vancouver, including the Chinese community,” he said.
“人 means people, and we as the human race have endured so much in the past two years. I chose pine because it’s evergreen representing longevity, and I believe we will survive this winter of our lives together.
“队 means team, which represents unity & strength when we come together. I chose bamboo because it is the strongest plant. I thought it was a perfect symbol for we as people are all on the same team in this together & that Chinese people are an important part of our community.”
Lai said he also wanted to include the words inscribed atop the gate, “remember the past and look forward to the future,” to expand the jersey’s positive message.
The Canucks have yet to announce the game date where the jerseys will be worn, or how available they will be for purchase.
However, the Canucks for Kids fund said partial proceeds from the sale of Lunar New Year merchandise will be donated to Elimin8 Hate, a Vancouver community group fighting anti-Asian racism.
The Lunar New Year is celebrated by billions of people in China, Asia and around the world, and begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar — this year, on Feb. 1 — and ends 15 days later on the calendar’s first full moon.
In Vancouver, it is traditionally celebrated with the Chinatown Spring Festival Parade that includes 3,000 participants and more than 100,000 spectators — though the event was forced online due to COVID-19 in 2021.
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