Manchester City have revealed their away kit for the 2026-27 season, a black-and-yellow design built around the worker bee motif that has long been associated with the city, the club said.
The jersey features a repeating pattern of bees embedded in the material, creating a swarming visual across the shirt. The club described the design as a visual salute to the insect and its connection to Manchester’s industrial roots.
The worker bee has been a staple of Manchester iconography for generations. The insect has appeared on the Manchester coat of arms since 1842, and the club noted the bee has also featured alongside the trade ship on City’s crest since the 1890s. City previously used a similar colourway for an away shirt in 2009-10, when Umbro produced a black kit with yellow flashes as a tribute to the bee.
In recent years City have drawn on a range of local inspirations for kit designs, including Oasis album covers, the Hacienda nightclub, shipping canal bridges and the city’s grey drizzle. With a Premier League title to reclaim and domestic cups to defend, the club will be looking for the Enzo Maresca era to reflect the same levels of energy, graft and collective work ethic the kit aims to symbolize.
The bee-themed uniform will be unveiled during City’s upcoming preseason tour of Asia, the club said. It will be launched at a special event on The Harbour Pitch in Hong Kong — a floating football pitch atop a pontoon in Victoria Harbour — and will be worn for the first time in the friendly against Inter Milan on Aug. 1. The tour also includes exhibitions against a K League All-Stars side and Atlético Madrid in Seoul the following week.
