Análise de Grêmio x São Paulo pelo Brasileirão

What does “tricolor” mean in Brazilian football?

Brazilian football commentary often drops club names and uses colours instead. Tricolor means a club whose shirt carries three colours, and more than one team claims the title: São Paulo is the Tricolor Paulista, Grêmio the Tricolor Gaúcho, Fluminense the Tricolor Carioca, Bahia the Tricolor Baiano. The regional adjective is what tells you which one, so a duelo de tricolores is two of them meeting.

The colour nicknames run right through the league: Flamengo is the Rubro-Negro (red-and-black), Palmeiras the Verdão (big green), Vasco the Cruzmaltino after the Maltese cross on its shirt. Not all of them are colours — Corinthians is the Timão, from time, “team.” Supporters take the name as well, so a São Paulo fan is tricolor as much as são-paulino. The regional adjectives are the ordinary demonyms: paulista (São Paulo state), gaúcho (Rio Grande do Sul), carioca (the city of Rio), baiano (Bahia).