A white shirt, black and red accents and a lion pattern from the city's coat of arms: Bayer 04 and New Balance dedicate the new third shirt to their city.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen and New Balance have unveiled the new third shirt for the 2026/27 season. The campaign is called “Made in Lev”, and the name says it all: the shirt connects the city's colours with symbols that have shaped Leverkusen and the club for generations. After the home shirt and the away shirt, it completes Leverkusen's kit line-up for the new season.
Bayer 04 third shirt 2026/27: white with a lion pattern from the coat of arms
The base stays deliberately simple, a clear white complemented by black and red accents. The colours connect city and club twice over; after all, Leverkusen carry the nickname “die Schwarzroten”, the black and reds. The shirt's real character sits in the fabric: a finely worked pattern, inspired by Leverkusen's city coat of arms, runs across the entire design. The lion motifs within it stay subtle; from a distance the shirt reads as plain white, and only at second glance do the details in the weave reveal themselves.
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The shirt joins a design approach many clubs are following right now: a clean base with history in the details. Bayer 04 pull it off more consistently than most, because the pattern doesn't merely decorate: it derives directly from the coat of arms of their own city, making the shirt a piece of Leverkusen in the most literal sense.
Made in Lev: coat of arms and matchday rituals as a double inspiration
The inspiration works on several levels. The club's announcement puts the city centre stage, its colours and its symbols, while New Balance's website also mentions the matchday rituals of Bayer 04 fans. Together, that makes for a complete story: it's about what defines Leverkusen, from the coat of arms via the city's colours to the rituals of matchday.
The new third shirt is available online now in the Bayer 04 store and at New Balance.
