England manager Gareth Southgate has dismissed criticism of the flag on the back of the new home kit, insisting the change in colours means it should no longer be seen as the England flag anyway.

The collar of England’s new home kit features the traditional cross of the St George’s Cross, but in a different colourway. While the FA intended the change to be a tribute to training gear from the 1966 World Cup winners, many have lashed out at the design and accused them of tampering with the England flag.

Southgate, however, urged fans not to even see the design as the England flag, insisting it’s simply an “artistic take” on the St George’s Cross.

“It’s not been high on my list of priorities but it depends which bit it is,” he explained. “I don’t know if the debate is about the St George flag needing to be on the England shirt because it obviously hasn’t always been.

“I think they can put a quirky design together but you can’t say it’s the flag of St George because it isn’t. It’s therefore something else.

“I think the most important thing that has to be on an England shirt are the three lions. It’s our iconic symbol. It’s what distinguishes us not only from football teams around the world but from England rugby and England cricket. It’s the thing that when I put my kit on 30 years ago and looked in the mirror, the three lions really stood out.

“Should we be tampering with the cross of St George? In my head, if it’s not a red cross on a white background it isn’t the cross of St George anyway. So it’s a hard question to answer. It’s presumably some artistic take, which I’m not creative enough to understand, really.”

Southgate went on to admit that he understands the public support for the St George’s flag.

“I am a huge patriot” he continued. “I believe we should celebrate St George’s Day more than we do. But the bit I understand is people don’t think we should have changed the flag of St George.

“If it’s changed then it isn’t the flag of St George! So I’m a little bit lost with that element of it.'”

Further fuelling the drama surrounding the new shirt, Liverpool winger Harvey Elliott attracted attention during Friday’s Under-21 outing as he opted to turn his collar up for the duration of the game, with the flag hidden from view. Elliott’s reasons for doing so have not been confirmed.