A black collar with small gold accents on a rich, maroon base, Valour FC’s inaugural home kit is noble and smart.

This uniform, just like the team’s crest, is inspired by the Victoria Cross, Canada’s highest military honour. So, no wonder it feels that way.

“We took the lead firmly from the logo itself, and the colours,” Valour head coach Rob Gale told CanPL.ca. “The maroon of the Victoria Cross and the ribbon that pins under our V for Valour.”

Half of the home jersey is covered in embossed stripes that signify the pride of the Valour story and Winnipeg. Gale compared the embossed, raised feeling of the strips to the historic pinstripes the New York Yankees have worn for eons.

“That just elevates the quality for me,” Gale added. “I like the design to it, just adds a classy touch. It’s really cool when you see it up close.”

Valour’s two kits were seen “up close” on Thursday when they were unveiled alongside the other 12 inaugural Canadian Premier League uniforms.

From the classy to the cool, Valour’s away strip is an all-black monochrome outfit with a futuristic design on the chest.

It might as well have “GALE” written across the front. It stood out to their charismatic head coach as an “absolute favourite” when it was just a prototype.

“When I saw all the kit mockups, I immediately gravitated to the black secondary kit,” Gale said.

“I’m 100% biased, but it’s my favourite kit out of any in the league. I love the design, how the maroon underpins, that bubble coming across.”

The chest design symbolizes the meeting of Winnipeg’s two main rivers, the Red River and Assiniboine River, which creates The Forks, considered the heart of the city and its downtown core.

The kit also features a sublimated “V” at the back, adding another unique touch seen across the league’s Macron-designed kits.

“Everything that’s associated with Valour, the name, the logo, the history and now the kit. It’s all coming along nicely,” Gale concluded. “The kit is the perfect ensemble piece of all of that.”