Since the birth of the Canberra Raiders, the iconic green colour has been associated with the Raiders home jersey. Over the club’s history, the Raiders have come to be known as the Green Machine, a name that is still used today when describing the team in commentary and in the grandstands.
What has also been consistent but perhaps not as well-known is the blue and gold stripe on jerseys sleeve, which represents the traditional sporting colours of the ACT.
The first jersey that the Canberra Raiders wore when they entered the NSWRL in 1982, was designed through a competition held by the club to come up with a design that wouldn’t clash with other existing clubs. The green and white colours come from the first rugby league team in the region, Hall.
Part of the winning design included the blue and gold stripes of the ACT, and they have remained an integral part of various Canberra Raiders jersey designs since.
In 1992, the Canberra Raiders played the Great Britain Lions in a one-off match, when the Great Britain team toured Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.
For the match, Canberra Raiders donned a jersey that deviated from the iconic lime green, changing to a predominantly white jersey, with a blue, yellow and green stripe design across the shoulders and chest. This jersey was created to honour the club’s history and its connection with Canberra and the ACT, and to commemorate the occasion of playing the Great Britain team.
In 2025, the Raiders paid tribute to their past, with the design of the club’s away jersey. For those members and fans who may not remember this look from 1992, the club has chosen the throwback strip for some of their away fixtures and will wear it again proudly in 2026 as part of the NRL’s two-year cycle for jerseys.
The ACT stripe has long been a defining feature of Raiders designs, and being able to revive such an iconic look from the club’s past has reinforced the team’s identity while celebrating its heritage.
The ACT stripe also feature across the Raiders training range for 2026, with new apparel partner Under Armour incorporating it into the training range.
