What Do The Thin Blue Line Police Stickers Mean?

Posted by peter abel on December 14th, 2016

When it comes to symbols, emblems and even simple colors, there can be multiple meanings and interpretations. Interestingly, many people who come across the same symbols repeatedly do not seem to be curious enough to find out more about those symbols and their meanings. One such example is the blue line emblem that is easily spotted on police cars.

The American Police Beat magazine recently covered the blue line identifier that was created in the year 1993 for law enforcement officers. The reflective thin blue line police stickers that we see on cars or in the form of decals and badges are an internationally recognized symbol that honor the officers, both fallen and living, for their heroism and the role that they play in protecting the citizens.

The thin blue line is more than just a symbol or an emblem. Often interpreted in more than one way, the phrase itself is now associated with law enforcement. So, officers don’t just sport the symbol on their vehicles but also on lapel pins, patches, license tags, hats and badges. It is believed to have been inspired by military lore!
The blue line emblem consists of three simple stripes - a thin blue strip between two black ones. And these stripes and their placement have a certain meaning each.
The top black stripe stands for the general public who need to be protected from victimization and freed of crimes occurring in their everyday lives.

The bottom black stripe represents the criminals and all the negative or anti-social elements which tend to cause harm to the society or to the public in particular.
The thin blue line placed in the center is of course, law enforcement and the people in-charge of it. The placement of this blue in the center of the emblem suggests that law enforcement is what separates the two parts of the society. In other words, the blue line represents a barrier that promises to protect the top section from violence and crimes caused by the bottom black section.

The symbol or the identifier is a way of showing support to the police and has been modified into different versions to represent other officers and professions. There is the thin silver line that is used by corrections officers, the thin white line that represents medical services and the thin red line that stands for fire fighters and the thin orange line for search and rescue personnel.

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peter abel

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peter abel
Joined: September 22nd, 2016
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