Jamarra Ugle-Hagan's response a week after he was rocked by racist abuse from St Kilda supporters was iconic in its irony, a tribute to the same statement made by Saints great Nicky Winmar.

The AFL launched an investigation after Bulldogs star Ugle-Hagan said he was racially abused in the second-round match against St Kilda, and the pain for the 20-year-old was still there when he took the field against Brisbane on Thursday night.

After kicking the first goal of the game, he lifted his guernsey and pointed to his skin as he let out a roar.

Ugle-Hagan acknowledged what those who went before him had to go through.

"Back in the day they would've had it a lot worse but now players are getting sick of it and they're making a stance," Ugle-Hagan told Channel Seven after the win over the Lions.

"We're calling them out and we're sorting it out, and everyone's getting behind our back nowadays."

Ugle-Hagan's protest came less than three weeks before the 30th anniversary of Winmar's original gesture to the black skin under his guernsey, shown to Collingwood fans at Victoria Park.

"I'm proud of Jamarra for standing up for himself. It's up to the new generations to reinforce the stance I made back in 1993," Winmar said in a statement.

Winmar, who played a season for the Bulldogs in 1999, said he spoke to ex-teammate and current coach Luke Beveridge to thank him for backing the young Indigenous stars in the current side.

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"It's a great club that I respect. I was welcomed and felt supported when I played for them in 1999," Winmar wrote.

"Things are getting better, with increased awareness, and kids are getting educated in schools now about racism in sport and in society, which is great.

"There's still a few who can't control their negative attitudes, all we can do is keep supporting each there, and keep calling it out."

He signed off with "Still black and proud" — a reference to his famous quote and stance from almost 30 years ago.

The image, the quote and the action make up one of the most famous moments in Australian sporting history, but what exactly sparked Winmar's stand, what happened on the day and what came after?

What happened on that day 30 years ago?

St Kilda lined up against Collingwood in round four of the 1993 AFL season, in a rematch of the previous year's elimination final, which the Saints won by eight points.

During the warm-up for the match at Collingwood's then-home ground, Victoria Park, Indigenous players Winmar and Gilbert McAdam received racist abuse from the stands.

The story goes that it was third-year player McAdam, who viewed Winmar as an "elder", who went to the more experienced star and told him: "Bro, we have to do something today. We have got to make a statement.

The pair showed out in the game.

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Like Ugle-Hagan, McAdam slotted five goals and was best on ground in the game, while Winmar picked up two Brownlow votes with his 25 disposals, seven tackles and a goal.

After the siren sounded on the Saints' 22-point victory, fans in the stands continued with their vitriol directed at the black stars.

Winmar raised his arms in victory right in front of the Collingwood supporters and then, with bile being hurled his way, raised his guernsey and pointed, with his middle finger, to his skin.

What happened in the aftermath?

The photographs were splashed across the Sunday Age and Sunday Herald Sun, with Age photographer Wayne Ludbey arguing with his editors to make a late change to the paper to include it.

"It was something that you weren't used to seeing and photographing on the football field," he told ABC Radio Perth in 2019.

"The paper was set, and I made the editors change the paper. I kept repeating the quote because I knew it was so important."