A Brief History of 'The Blazer'

The term ‘blazer’ originated with the red 'blazers' of the Lady Margaret Boat Club which was established in 1825, this was the rowing club of St John's College , Cambridge. The Lady Margaret club jackets were termed ‘blazers’ because of the bright red cloth, a term derived from the original red coat.

A writer to the London Daily News (22 August 1889) commented that "In your article of to-day” you speak of ‘a striped red and black blazer’, ‘the blazer’, also of ‘the pale toned’ ones. A blazer is the red flannel boating jacket worn by the Lady Margaret of St. John's College Cambridge Boat Club. When I was at Cambridge it meant that and nothing else. It seems from your article that a blazer now means a coloured flannel jacket, whether for cricket, tennis, boating, or seaside wear."  The blazer is in fact now a signature sporting choice for a wide variety of sports teams and clubs worldwide. 
The rowing blazer for example, morphing from the livery of royal watermen and the uniforms belonging to crews of ceremonial barges, to become the celebrated garments of competitive sportsman.

 
Blazers, once commonly worn playing or attending traditional 'gentlemen's sports', persist in games now, such as tennis, cricket, rugby and polo. The blazers are likely worn at sporting events, tours, post- match, and special occasions. When in professional matches, such as Cricket international test matches, it is considered customary for the captain to wear a blazer with the team's logo or national coat of arms on the breast pocket, at least during the coin toss at the beginning of play.