This Wednesday the Philadelphia Union – the city’s new major league soccer team – will host the English Premier League Champions, Manchester United. The teams will face off at the Lincoln Financial Center. In February 2008 the Union became the 16th Major League Soccer team. In April, in front of 34,870 fans the Union played its Home Opener, beating D.C. United 3-2.

In 2009, the team received a name, crest and color. The Union’s colors are navy blue and gold to represent the Continental Army’s uniforms during the Revolutionary War. The Union’s main crest is circular to symbolize unity, and the thirteen gold stars around the bottom of the crest represent the thirteen colonies. The shield shows a rattlesnake, illustrating the 1750s idea of the rattlesnake as a symbol of the dangers of disunity.