Lawmen and Tin Stars

Nothing symbolizes Old West justice better than the lawman's tin star. Old-timey sheriffs and marshals still swagger their confident way through Western novels, movies, and TV shows to this day. The tin star is the exemplar of a special kind of badge whose history stretches from America's earliest days forward into our own time -- the badge that evokes secular rather than military or religious authority. That's the type of badge that Humphrey Bogart's character, Fred Dobbs, demanded of the Mexican bandit leader in the 1948 classic movie, Treasure of the Sierra Madre -- the demand that inspired the bandit to utter the famous line, "Badges? We don't need no steenking badges!"

The lawman's badge is one that, in conjunction with other legal powers, allows certain individuals to investigate and redress wrongs against both individuals and society, even if they have to put aside other people's hard-earned civil rights to do so. As such, they unify law enforcement officers of all types, from meter maids to the FBI. Law badges probably evolved from military badges and insignia. They're larger and showier than most military accoutrements, but that's only natural: they need to be, so that everyone can clearly see who's in charge. In the United States, police badges first appeared in New York City as early as 1840. Some of those early badges were made of copper; according to one legend, that's how police offers acquired the name "coppers" as well as its popular short form, "cop" (others say it was the copper helmets early cops wore).

In the rough and tumble environment of the frontier, where the law came late and had to fight hard for respect and a place in society, the highly visible tin star was the badge of choice for lawmen. Take, for example, Pat Garrett, the man who shot Billy the Kid. Garrett's badge of authority was a five-pointed silver-plated copper star -- the very model of the classic "tin" star. Later, the grateful officials of Lincoln County, New Mexico presented him with a solid gold replica. It was recently put on the collectors' market for $80,000.

Tin stars have never gone out of style for Western-style lawmen like sheriffs and their deputies, but these days most law badges are shields, often colored gold. Uniformed officers normally wear them proudly on their chests, but those law enforcement officers whose jobs require them to be less noticeable -- say, agents with the DEA, FBI, or the Bureau of Weights and Standards -- often keep their gold shields tucked away in neat wallets. When it comes to visible badges, those agents are far more likely to wear plastic ID badges emblazoned with their photos, especially when they're hanging around their offices -- which brings us to most common use of badges in the modern world.

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