Smith & Warren is a company that clearly understands the importance of a badge.
Since 1925, it has been proudly designing and manufacturing high-quality badges and insignia for police departments.
But what makes Smith & Warren stand out is not their long and storied history. It’s that they deeply understand a badge is more than an object that identifies an officer’s rank and department – a badge is a symbolic representation of the oath an individual has taken to serve and protect.
When a new officer puts that badge on for the first time, it’s a moment of pride, recognition and achievement. Every increase in rank earns officers a new badge and another opportunity to be reminded of their solemn oath and the nobility of the profession.
A badge is also the most recognizable part of a police uniform. It must convey authority in an authentic way that commands respect without intimidation and signals to the community the person behind the badge is someone they can trust to protect and help them.
Smith & Warren understands the symbolic weight a badge carries, which is why they work closely with law enforcement and other public safety agencies to thoughtfully design department badges that will represent the department and the community’s history, culture and values – and last as durable monuments to their careers.
A BADGE IS A SYMBOL
When a law enforcement officer receives their first badge, it is a rite of passage into one of the noblest of careers. Departments understand the relevance and importance of the badge as the most iconic part of the uniform – and often the symbolic representation of the department itself – and that by investing in an artisan-quality badge, they are showing respect for the individual officer who wears it.
The extra effort to customize a badge can be overwhelming, but the results will be worth it. By choosing a manufacturer that is also a designer, departments can be assured that design choices they make can withstand the rigors of law enforcement and the test of time.
All Smith & Warren badges are manufactured at their factory in White Plains, New York and come with the industry’s most comprehensive full warranty. From the custom-tooled steel dies to the final enamel and metal finishing, the skilled artisans and talented designers at Smith & Warren combine modern technology with traditional craftsmanship to deliver – with meticulous care and remarkable speed – badges of the highest quality.
View a gallery of Smith & Warren crafted badges:
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A Smith & Warren artisan carefully inspecting a badge with a newly applied seal.
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A Smith & Warren craftsman soldering a panel to a badge.
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WAYS TO DESIGN A CUSTOM BADGE
Smith & Warren strives to make it easy for law enforcement agencies of any size to design and order badges that suit their needs. The company offers several easy options for personalizing or customizing a new badge, fully supported with expert guidance from the customer service team.
Watch a video about ways to customize a badge:
1. VisualBadge
Smith & Warren’s user-friendly VisualBadge tool allows departments and individuals to virtually design a badge online before ordering. It offers a selection of over 1,500 badge templates – for instance, a shield with or without an eagle symbol – and guides departments through the design process where they can customize elements like metal finish, a center seal, enamel type, attachment type and text and lettering.
Once the design is completed it can be printed, shared or submitted for a quote. The quote request will be reviewed and a quote issued by an authorized Smith & Warren dealer. The dealer will follow the order through to completion and delivery.
For those who want to touch and see example Smith & Warren badges in person, they can visit a local dealer who will guide them through the personalization and ordering process.
“We really see the departments we work with as partners,” said Michael Camara, vice president of marketing and brand strategy and the chief designer for Smith & Warren. “Our relationships with departments allow us to have a conversation that goes beyond the badge. We make sure the ordering process is simple, that it works for them and that we’re always available to answer any questions.”
2. Custom center seal
A great way to enhance your badge is to add a custom center seal – designed specifically for the organization – to a badge. The center seal is the round emblem in the middle of the badge. While Smith & Warren offers a large selection of center seals to choose from, a popular option is to design one using a department logo, town seal or other symbol that represents the customer’s organization. A custom seal is a low cost and highly effective way to customize a badge and Smith & Warren makes the process very easy.
3. BadgeStudio
Those who want to design a department badge that is completely original can work with Smith & Warren’s professional BadgeStudio design team. Led by Camara, the design team will walk the customer through a creative process that includes working with the department leadership and others to determine the specific features to be included.
Custom badge details typically depict meaningful symbols that reflect the department’s or community’s identity and values. Popular features represent key milestones or industries in the town’s history, geographical features like mountains, oceans or deserts, flora and fauna, city skylines, bridges, historical buildings and other landmarks. Other features often include symbols of patriotism like an eagle or national, state or town flag, dates or symbols of community values, like love, strength, truth or friendship, and mottos like “serve and protect.”
The process to get to a custom badge begins with a design consultation where the Smith & Warren design team will ask questions to learn about the department. By the end of the consultation ideas will start to take shape and a project proposal will be presented. Next, the designer will hand-sketch a design concept, giving departments an opportunity to visualize the concept before moving forward. After the design sketch is finalized, the concept comes to life with a detailed full-color illustration and a last chance for design tweaks. In the final design phase, the concept-designed badge goes through a digital three-dimensional (3D) process so department representatives can see all the fine details, depths and sculpted elements that will be produced in metal in the final badge.
“This is where customers get wowed,” said Camara. “The customer actually gets to see exactly what the badge will look like before the die is cut.”
After approval of the 3D rendering, the dies are cut and the samples are made, giving departments a chance to touch and feel the badges before individual officer badges are produced.
THE FINAL TOUCH
When the manufacturing process is complete, every badge goes through careful inspection to make sure the badge is accurate, complete and of the highest quality before the order is shipped to the department.
“While this is the end of our process, we like to remember that for many of our clients, receiving this badge is one of the most important events of their lives. In many cases, the new badge means the start of a new career in public safety, new responsibilities, a promotion or even an honorable retirement,” Smith & Warren President Lee Galperin told The Council of Industry Magazine in the Hudson Valley. “Chances are the presentation of the badge is a special moment and we want that moment to be perfect. It is something I think makes our company special, the fact that our employees ʻelevate the badge.’ They feel great pride and the responsibility that goes with making something very significant to the people who will wear what they made.”
Whether a law enforcement agency decides to create a badge using the online builder, VisualBadge, enhance their badge with a custom center seal or design a one-of-a-kind badge with the BadgeStudio team, they can be assured their badge will be a long-lasting symbol of pride for every officer – and a work of art made with the utmost care by the artisans at Smith & Warren.
To learn more and to see examples of their badges, visit SmithWarren.com.
