 The Rugby Football Union ( RFU ) had created the national side 's emblem prior to an English team being sent to Edinburgh to play a Scottish side . A red rose was chosen to be the side 's emblem . The white kit worn by the national team was taken from the kit used at Rugby School . Alfred Wright , an employee of the Rugby Football Union , is credited with the <unk> and new design of the rose , which up until 1920 had undergone many variations in its depiction . The Wright design is thought to have been used without minor alteration until the late 1990s . It was not until 1997 that the rose was modernised when Nike became the official strip supplier . 
