Arnasa: The breath of our land

During this Sunday’s match against Real Valladolid at San Mames, Athletic Club’s captain on the day will wear a special armband produced in collaboration with Britanny-based Ligue 2 outfit FC Lorient.

“Les Merlus” (The Hakes) skipper will don the same armband during the Bretons’ home clash with Stade Laval at the Stade du Moustoir on Saturday February 22 (14:00 CET).

The armband features the “Ikurriña” (the Basque flag) and the “Gwenn-ha-du” (the flag of Britanny) meeting in the middle with a swirling motif which encases a "K", standing for “Kapitaina” in Basque and “Kabiten” in Breton.

It also bears a Lauburu, a traditional Basque symbol linked to Celtic iconography representing the four elements of nature (fire, water, earth and air), and a Triskel, a Celtic symbol strongly linked to the cultural and national identity of the Brittany region, which has different meanings, such as the balance between body, mind and spirit, evolution, and the beginning and the end.

Completing the design is the crests of both teams, Athletic Club and FC Lorient, as well as information about their respective matches.

The initiative forms part of a campaign put together by FC Lorient in which for every home match this season their captain sports a different bespoke armband celebrating various elements of the club’s own history and Breton culture. Previous captain’s armbands have included nods to amateur football in Britanny and the club’s historic ties to the territory’s maritime activities.

In this instance the Breton club reached out to Athletic Club in order to develop an armband that honours our respective languages and homelands.

In addition to the armband, the clubs have co-produced an artistic video which further highlights our connections via the “breath” of the Bay of Biscay. The spot features alternating Basque and Breton narrators speaking over various images of Britanny, the Basque Country, FC Lorient and Athletic Club, interspersed with clips of a typographer painting the words “arnasa” and “c’hwezh” (Basque and Breton for “breath”) in fonts related to each language.

FC Lorient, current leaders of France’s Ligue Two, have long been a standard bearer for the revival of Breton culture in Britanny. Since 2019, the Breton anthem, “Bro Gozh ma zadoù”, has been played before kick-off at each match at the Stade du Moustoir and the stadium announcer regularly teaches the crowd Breton vocabulary. 

Furthermore, in January 2024, FC Lorient became the first professional football club to sign the Breton language charter (“Ya d'ar brezhoneg” – “Yes to Breton”), which seeks to promote regular use of Breton (currently classed as ‘endangered’ by UNESCO) in civil society across Britanny.

This initiative is another example of Athletic Club’s commitment to promoting the Basque language and culture across the world. 

A commitment that is the result of consensus, that is included in the Athletic Club's Corporate Social Responsibility Regulations and Code of Good Governance (approved at the Ordinary General Assembly on October 29, 2024), and that in its Code of Ethics includes, among other points, the promotion of Human Rights and fundamental freedoms as well as promoting the Basque language.

What’s more, as part of the club’s ongoing internationalisation project, it’s a golden opportunity to forge new connections and relationships while situating Athletic on the global stage as a champion and defender of minority cultures and languages.