The club's famous yellow sash has been adorned with a design by local Aboriginal artist Jirra Lulla Harvey as part of the AFL's Indigenous Round, which celebrates the contribution of indigenous players to the game.
Egan, who played 125 games for Richmond between 1982 and 1990, said it was a stunning tribute.
"It's really taken my breath away," Egan said from Punt Road Oval on Wednesday.
"To change the iconic strip … demonstrates to me as a black fella, the commitment that this club has to Aboriginal culture and what we're trying to do and achieve.
"It's not about how many players we have at any given time … to see that strip like that, it gives me a lump in the throat really.
"It demonstrates fully the commitment this football club has to what it's saying it is going to do."
Egan has been delighted by the role the AFL and his former club have taken in trying to stamp out racism in the game, but said there was still plenty of work to be done on the issue at the community level.
The Tigers will not have an indigenous player in their side for the big game against Essendon, which has gone under the Dreamtime at the 'G title since 2005, after Shane Edwards underwent surgery for a fractured cheekbone earlier in the week.
The match promises to draw a huge crowd to the MCG on Saturday night with both teams dramatically improving on last year's form.
The Bombers sit third on the ladder after defeating the Brisbane Lions last weekend, but have lost skipper Jobe Watson to injury and important defender Heath Hocking to suspension.
The Tigers failed in their bid to win four games in a row when they stumbled against the Western Bulldogs last week and onballer Matt White said his team faced a stern challenge despite the Bombers' personnel issues.
"You can't underestimate Essendon at the moment," he said.
"They are two big players who are coming out of their side, but they've got guys like [Brent] Prismall to come back in and he's shown some form over the last few weeks at VFL level.
"It's going to be a good clash between two big sides in Melbourne.
"I think it makes it a lot better that both sides are on the up. We've been playing pretty well over the last few weeks … although we were a little bit disappointing at the weekend, but Essendon have been showing they're on the way up."
Richmond's resurgence has seen the team talked of as a possible finals participant in Damien Hardwick's second year in charge. White agreed the confidence among the players was high, but said such talk was premature.
"There's nothing that says we can't [play finals], but it's not in the front of our minds at the moment," he said.
"Of course if we get there we're going to be stoked and we're going to have a red-hot crack at it, but we're eight weeks in and have won three games and had a draw.
"We're going in four-week blocks … instead of one week at a time it's four weeks at a time."
