Badges
TYPE: Badge of office. Worn by uniformed officers of the San Antonio Police Department assigned as “Traffic Officers.” Such duty entailed assignment to a static post (such as an intersection) or small area (such as a short street, construction site or parking area) for the control of vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
DESCRIPTION: All metal. Usually silver in color. There are at least four distinct derivations of the badge.
This is an example of Traffic Badge derivation one (TBd1). The badge has a separate piece in the image of the Alamo Chapel at the top of the badge. The chapel rests upon a horizontal bar which have the words SAN ANTONIO the bar extending past the walls of the chapel and soldered to the lower shield at the end points. The shield has two banners, one concave with the word TRAFFIC and one convex with the word POLICE, above and below the center area where the numbers are faced. The shield was originally cast with an eagle at the top. The eagle and the center point of the shield have been roughly and not entirely removed from the shield and the chapel building and bar simply attached. The remains of the claws of the eagle can just be seen beneath the letters of SAN ANTONIO.
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