Except for Federal Agencies and the U.S. Military, Smith & Warren sells all products through our extensive network of authorized dealers and distributors.

You can browse and design your custom Smith & Warren products with VisualBadge and request a quote. We will assign your quote request to an authorized dealer who can provide pricing and assist you with placing an order.
 


You can browse and design your custom Smith & Warren products with VisualBadge and request a quote. We will assign your quote request to an authorized dealer who can provide pricing and assist you with placing an order.
 

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Surprise Arizona Police Department

Customizing a hat badge to be consistent with the department’s oval badge.

Published On: 07/03/2024
Surprise Police Arizona badges

The Surprise Arizona Police Department was in the BadgeStudio design process to create a unique oval chest badge enriched with meaningful elements. The design elements included the White Tank Mountain range which serves as the backdrop of their badge and city. Five cacti, representing their core values, surround their police building. Highlighting their modern building and using natural elements as meaningful symbols made their badge singular and something special to share with their community. With this thoughtful approach to their new oval badge, using this image as a cohesive uniform brand was the next logical step.

Design Discussion Includes the Hat Badge

During our design conversations with the Surprise Police Department, we asked about their department’s uniform components, including their current hat badge. When we discussed the Surprise Police Department’s hat badge, they liked the idea of keeping their uniform consistent and moving from their current hat badge to the new design. They initially thought of using a miniature oval version of their new badge as a hat badge. Our team’s suggestion was to design a custom eagle-topped hat badge that incorporated the mountains, cacti, and police building. This would solve two issues. The hat badge would include the heraldic symbol of an eagle for the federal government while using the design elements of their new oval badge for uniform consistency.

Surprise Arizona Police Hat badge on police hat

The Symbolism of Governmental Authority

Typically, law enforcement departments include design elements on a badge to represent federal, state, and municipal government authority. An eagle represents the federal government as the highest governmental authority and eagle-topped hat badges place the symbol of the highest level of government at the highest point of the law enforcement uniform.

Why is an eagle-topped hat badge recommended?

Many departments we work with wear an eagle-topped hat badge, but they may have never learned the historical reasons and heraldic tradition of an eagle-topped hat badge. We enjoy educating everyone about the symbolism of badge elements. We can show you how to incorporate federal, state, and municipal symbolic elements into your custom badge while keeping the uniform consistent. With an oval badge, that often means suggesting a custom eagle-topped hat badge. 

At Smith & Warren, we understand the importance of tradition, heraldry, and the design integration of your badges. We will always ask about your department’s hat badge for uniform consistency. Choosing to do a second custom badge project is an option, but understanding the symbolism of an eagle-topped hat badge, and your hat badge options is something we will help you with on any BadgeStudio project.
 
If you are considering a custom badge project, we would love to discuss our BadgeStudio concept design service with you. 
 

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Whether you need 1 piece or 10,000 pieces our team is here to make the ordering process easy for you.   

We partner with a national network of authorized dealers,

  • Online Dealer

  • Local physical stores 

You can find a dealer by using our Dealer Locator.

Another option is to build your product(s) with VisualBadge on our website and submit a quote request.  

  • Within 1 business day you will receive a quote from one of our dealers.  
  • The dealer will also send you instructions on how to place your order when you are ready.

Quantity discounts are available for badge orders over 15 pieces and large quantities of uniform insignia.  The prices we show on the website are full retail prices.  Your official quote will include any applicable quantity discounts.

We appreciate the opportunity to service your department and will do our best to make the purchasing process as smooth and easy as possible.   Our team is here to help so feel free to contact us  with any questions.

CLICK HERE for information and the process to create a custom center seal for your department's badges. A custom center seal is an easy and economical way to customize your Smith & Warren badges further.

Trust Smith & Warren to create a challenge coin you'll be proud to carry.   Minimum order quantities start as low as 250 pcs.

Designing a custom badge is a journey, but we have the experience and expertise to guide you and keep the process streamlined for your department.

BadgeStudio Design services are ideal for departments looking to outfit 50 or more sworn personnel.  Tell us more about your project below, and lets create your next custom badge together.

For questions about warranty coverage and repair services, please click here visit our WARRANTY page.

If you have image(s) of the custom product you would like to create please upload them here. 

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Take a photo of your badge next to a ruler, or for best results, CLICK HERE to download and print the image upload template. Print the form and follow the instructions for photographing and uploading your badge image.

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Allowed types: gif, jpg, png, pdf.

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