Designing Custom Police Flags

As we approach Peace Officer Memorial Day, I am reminded of all the amazing custom police department flags we have produced over the years. Each flag is meaningful, symbolic, and unique. With that said, a flag design guideline can be helpful when making a law enforcement custom flag. Here are a few ideas.

Colors
Black & Blue are often used in designing custom police department flags. The original blue line flag has 3 stripes. An upper and lower thick black stripe with a thin blue line dividing the two stripes. The top black stripe symbolizes the public, the bottom black symbolizes criminals and dividing the two is a blue line, symbolizing law enforcement. People associate blue and black with the police department.

Badges
A simple way to design a police flag is to use the department’s existing badge on the flag. The pros of using a badge is that it is recognizable. According to basic flag design principles, a badge may not be the best due to the complexity. Basic lines and designs work best on a flag.

Patches
As with badges, a police patch is an easy way to design a flag for the department. Patches typically are unique and involve symbolism of the town or state they are located in. The symbols inside the patch make a good flag, but, again, the complexity could be problematic.

Blue Line
A simple blue line incorporated into the flag design, is a popular new symbol on many police department custom flags. It is iconic to police and recognized by the general public.

Stars
Many Sheriff badges are shaped in a star. Stars symbolize authority. Historically, the star on a badge was to protect against evil. Badges evolved over time and became a source of identification and a standard part of the police uniform. Stars on flags are very popular and fall within good flag design principles.

Text
Most police flags have some sort of identification. The name of the department, the year established, and a tagline are typical on a law enforcement custom flag.

To recap, badges and patches are recognizable, but complex. Is there a simpler symbol people recognize? The simpler, the better when it comes to flags. We are here to help make the best flag for your department. Reach out to our professional team to start the flag making process. Send an email, [email protected] or complete an online form.