Custom Badge Building with Smith and Warren

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 Smith and Warren on GT Distributors, you can build your badge step by step.

The first step is to pick out the type of badge you need. Smith and Warren on GT Distributors offers eight categories only three of which are actual badges, with options that include varying shapes, different types of stars, law enforcement, fire department, and miniature or cancer awareness badges. For our purposes, we’re going to select the “Badges” category which contains a variety of badge shapes plus stars (usually used for Sheriff’s agencies).

In the Badges window, GT Distributors shows options for the basic badge body shape design. On the left side of the screen you see a list of the options with our experience defaulting to “New Designs.” 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. We stayed with New Designs and selected S503MO as our model.

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 Rhodium Electroplate 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 many seals available. Smith and Warren not only has state seals available but also other law enforcement related seals such as the Scales of Justice.

After you’ve completed your badge build, the system allows you to add the design to your cart, print the design and/or email the design. 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 article is a paid for and sponsored piece of content purchased by GT Distributors.