After the overall impression of your uniform appearance, the badge you wear is perhaps the single most representative emblem of your agency. Whether you work for a police department, sheriff’s office, state patrol or other governmental law enforcement agency, the badge is unique. There is strength to that and a good badge design isn’t just thrown together. It’s carefully considered, built and symbolic of your agency’s values. With Blackinton on GT Distributors, you can build your badge step by step.
The first step is to pick out the type of badge you need. Blackinton on GT Distributors has thirteen options that include varying shapes, different types of stars, law enforcement, fire department, inaugural and September 11th badges and miniature or cancer awareness badges. For our purposes, we’re going to select the “Badges with Eagles” category as that is largely the most common type used in law enforcement (as compared to Sheriff’s agencies which most often use stars).
In the Badges with Eagles categories, GT Distributors shows ONE HUNDRED options for the basic badge body shape design. There is everything from the traditional shield with a top eagle to inverted tear-drop with flags draped. Many agencies choose to go traditional while other agencies are trying to focus on being unique. Select the basic badge shape that suits your goal and allows for display of the information you want included. Badges can carry a plethora of information to include rank, agency, state, ID number, duty assignment and more. Because it was chosen by an agency we are familiar with, moving forward we’re going to select B1160 as our working model. (It’s about half way down the page.)
Once that’s been selected, then a window opens that allows you to select the specific design features such as finish, enamel type and lettering font. You also type in the specific wording you want on each available panel. For our display purposes we’ve selected the Gold finish with Hard Enamel using Block Black lettering. We used CHIEF in the top panel; HIGHWAY PATROL in the second panel; TROOPER in the third panel and 007 in the bottom panel. We used the Wisconsin State Seal in the middle and that is one of fifty-five available seals (some states have more than one seal available).
After you’ve completed your badge build, the system takes you to GT Distributor’s Shopping Cart where you can adjust quantity and see your final pricing. NOTE: Some badges are only ordered two at a time; the Chief’s badge as an example. Some badges can be ordered 100 at a time, like a patrol officer’s badge. If you’re building badges to be ordered in quantity for an agency, make sure you know your counts before beginning.
Designing a custom unique badge for your agency can be fun and the end result offers a sense of pride. Take your time, explore options and be satisfied with your final product.
Editor's Note: This piece of content is paid for and sponsored by GT Distributors.
