Dubuque Police formally unveiled a new uniform patch to the City Council during Monday evening’s meeting. The Department has had two uniform patches in its history. The first patch was implemented around 1962. Prior to this there was no patch...
Dubuque Police formally unveiled a new uniform patch to the City Council during Monday evening’s meeting. The Department has had two uniform patches in its history. The first patch was implemented around 1962. Prior to this there was no patch on the uniform. The original patch was in place until 1975 when it was replaced with the current one, a slightly modified version of the San Francisco PD patch. Over the past several years there have been discussions about changing the patch design and making it more specific and unique to Dubuque and the Department. With the Department’s 175th Anniversary taking place this year, the timing couldn’t have been better.
The patch design and implementation is just one of many projects being worked on by the Department’s recently developed Historical Committee. Approximately 25 patch designs were submitted by officers and the final design was ultimately selected by vote. The design was chosen based on several images it incorporated. The American flag and State of Iowa flag are iconic images that were present in nearly all of the proposed designs and were images of pride that were strongly desired. The center panel with the fleur-de-lis surrounded by “Masterpiece on the Mississippi” is symbolic of our historical past and our present. The fleur-de-lis represents the City and its founding by Julien Dubuque, and the fleur-de-lis is also often a symbol used throughout heraldry and history as a symbol of unity and pride. The “Masterpiece on the Mississippi” represents the current state of Dubuque as the showcase of the region. The words honor, pride & integrity are words commonly associated with the law enforcement profession and are prevalent within the department.
To learn more about the Department’s history and the Historical Committee’s activities, visit: www.cityofdubuque.org/dpdhistory