The West Coast Eagles have inadvertently opened themselves up to allegations of racism after promoting their retro jumper from the weekend on social media with the term "the yellow peril is back".

The Eagles donned a predominantly yellow guernsey for Friday night's win over Richmond, paying homage to the club's 30th anniversary and first-up 1987 victory against the Tigers.

The term 'yellow peril' was a derogatory and xenophobic phrase used in the mid-1940s

But although the jumper appears to have been given the thumbs-up, two of the club's attempts to spruik it on Facebook haven't been so popularly received - referencing "yellow peril", including "we learned you loved the yellow peril".

"Yellow peril" was a derogative and xenophobic phrase used in the mid-1940s to describe Asians who were perceived as a "danger to the Western World".