A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE

In 1915, the life of a policeman was bleak. In many communities they were forced to work 12 hour days, 365 days a year. Police officers didn't like it, but there was little they could do to change their working conditions. There were no organizations to make their voices heard; no other means to make their grievances known.

This soon changed, thanks to the courage and wisdom of two Pittsburgh patrol officers. Martin Toole and Delbert Nagle knew they must first organize police officers, like other labor interests, if they were to be successful in making life better for themselves and their fellow police officers. They and 21 others "who were willing to take a chance" met on May 14, 1915, and held the first meeting of the Fraternal Order of Police. They formed Fort Pitt Lodge #1. They decided on this name due to the anti-union sentiment of the time. However, there was no mistaking their intentions. As they told their city mayor, Joe Armstrong, the FOP would be the means "to bring our aggrievances before the Mayor or Council and have many things adjusted that we are unable to present in any other way...we could get many things through our legislature that our Council will not, or cannot give us."

And so it began, a tradition of police officers representing police officers. The Fraternal Order of Police was given life by two dedicated police officers determined to better their profession and those who choose to protect and serve our communities, our states, and our country. It was not long afterward that Mayor Armstrong was congratulating the Fraternal Order of Police for their "strong influence in the legislatures in various states,...their considerate and charitable efforts" on behalf of the officers in need and for the FOP's "efforts at increasing the public confidence toward the police to the benefit of the peace, as well as the public."

From that small beginning the Fraternal Order of Police began growing steadily. In 1955, the idea of a National Organization of Police Officers came about. Today, the tradition that was first envisioned over 85 years ago lives on with more than 2,000 local lodges and 299,000 members in the United States. The Fraternal Order of Police has become the largest professional police organization in the country. The FOP continues to grow because we have been true to the tradition and continued to build on it. The Fraternal Order of Police are proud professionals working on behalf of law enforcement officers from all ranks and levels of government.

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A book entitled "The Fraternal Order of Police, 1915-1976: A History" by Justin E. Walsh, Ph.D., was first published in 1977. The book was reprinted in 2001 with a new foreward by Past National President Gilbert Gallegos. The reprinted book is available to FOP members by calling the Grand Lodge at 615.399.0900. The Library of Congress Catalog Card Number is 77-89730.

©1997-2002 Fraternal Order of Police, Grand Lodge

HISTORY OF THE FOP LOGO

The emblem was designed in the summer of 1915, the year F.O.P. was started in Pittsburg, PA. It was designed by Delbert Nagle, originator of  the F.O.P. and First Grand Lodge President, with the assistance of an artist Mr. H.J. Garvy. It was adopted by the National Fraternal Order of Police in 1917 and was designed to remind the membership of the duties expected of them as a citizen, a police officer, and a member of the lodge. 

The five-cornered star is a symbol of the authority with which we are entrusted. It is an honor the people we serve bestow upon us. They place their confidence and trust in us, serve them proudly. Midway between the points and center of the star is a blue field representative of the thin blue line between society and crime, formed by dedicated law enforcement officers for the protection of those we serve. The background is white, the unstained color representing the purity with which we should serve. We shall not let anything corrupt to be injected into our order. The open eye is the eye of vigilance ever looking for danger and protecting all those under its care while they sleep or while awake. The clasped hands denote friendship. The hand of friendship is always extended to those in need of our comfort. The double circle surrounding the star midway, symbolizes that members are bound in mutuality. The heraldic center, the Pittsburg Coat of Arms, reminds members where the Order originated. Within the half circle over the centerpiece is our motto, "Jus, Fides, Libertatum" which originally was thought to mean "Fairness, Justice and Equality". In the early 1920s it was discovered the word "Fairness" could not be translated from the motto so the translation became "Justice, Friendship, Equality". 

In 1967 Mrs. Esther Hayden of Cincinnati, Ohio, National Conductor of the Ladies Auxiliary, chaired a committee to update the Auxiliary ritual. While researching the motto she discovered the words had been translated incorrectly. The direct translation did not fit the message the F.O.P. was trying to convey. They did not want to change the motto because it was on all stationary and merchandise. An appropriate translation that conveyed an appropriate translation was "Law is a Safeguard of Freedom". This was adopted by unanimous vote of the National Board on August 19th 1968 and is the current official motto.