Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial Tartan

[RockyR]

Hey Guys,

I've been working with Tim Welch (local retired Officer) to create a Law Enforcement Officers' Memorial Tartan. We've received the approval from the STA and are weaving the material. We're going to have a page for it on our site within a week, but I figured I'd give you guys a sneak peak:



The above picture is a computer generated image of “basically” what the tartan will look like. Once the actual fabric arrives in early March, this picture will be replaced with a picture of the actual material.

The Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial Tartan© (aka. “The Police Tartan”©) was designed as a salute to Law Enforcement Officers, everywhere in the world, who have chosen, as a profession, to serve and protect others. It was also designed to memorialize those officers who have already made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. The wearing of this tartan is not restricted to Law Enforcement Officers, but is available for anyone to wear who wants to honor them and the memory of those who have fallen.

The Colors and Symbolism in the Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial Tartan:

• The BLUE represents the living men and women who currently serve or are retired from Law Enforcement.
• The 2 thick BLACK bars represent the men and women who have lost their lives in the line of duty. They also represent the 2 buildings of the World Trade Center (each bar is a tower) and the officers who died there. The 2 black bars contain 36 black threads each, for a total of seventy-two, the number of officers who died on 9.11.2001.
• The DARK BLUE line between the 2 black bars is there to represent the “thin blue line” which is a colloquial term for police officers. It means that Law Enforcement officers are all that stand between citizens and criminals.
• The GOLD and SILVER stripes represent the badges that officers wear.
• The spot where the black stripes cross the silver and gold represents the mourning band that officers wear over their badges when a brother officer dies in the line of duty.
• The GREEN stripe is to honor The Police Emerald Societies and the Irish-Americans who made such a large contribution to police work in the early years in the US when few people wanted to do the job.

A portion of all sales of these kilts will be donated to “C.O.P.S.” (Concerns Of Police Survivors) http://www.nationalcops.org/ and therefore this tartan is ONLY available through USA Kilts and may not be reproduced anywhere without the expressed written consent of USA Kilts.

This tartan was designed by: Tim Welch and Rocky (aka William) Roeger, USA Kilts, 2008. The name "Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial Tartan" and the tartan pattern itself are both ©2008 by William Roeger, USA Kilts and Tim Welch

[RockyR]

Here's Tim's letter about why we designed it and what it means to us:


The story of the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Kilt© 2008 Rocky Roeger-Tim Welch. Letter by Tim Welch


Recently I visited the crash site of United Airlines Flight 93 in Shanksville Pennsylvania and was touched by all of the things that visitors placed at a makeshift memorial. All were personal items such as signs, fire helmets, toys, pictures, police patches and children’s drawings attached to a fence. One thing that I found particularly interesting was the symbolism displayed on several homemade flags. It was a very moving experience.

As a retired police officer, I was aware of the number of law enforcement officers who died in the World Trade Center attacks on 9/11 and I wondered if any officers had perished on any of the high jacked aircraft that day. I found out that one did. A passenger on Flight 93 named Richard Guadagno was an officer with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. His name is engraved on the wall of The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington DC, along with seventy-one of his fellow officers who died that day at the World Trade Center.

A few weeks later a friend showed me the Firefighters Memorial Kilt© that was designed and sewn by Kelly Stewart of USA Kilts & Celtic Traditions. He explained that the lines in the middle of each square of the tartan design were 3 red threads, 4 red threads, and 3 red threads – representing the 343 NYFD firefighters who lost their lives on 9/11/2001. As a snare drummer with a bagpipe band, I have had a lot of experience wearing kilts over the past eight years. That is when I got the idea for the Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Tartan©. It would honor all of the seventeen thousand nine hundred twelve fallen law enforcement officers throughout history and incorporate the symbolism that I was so struck with at Shanksville.

I met with Rocky Roeger of USA Kilts and gave him my ideas for the tartan I wanted to design. He too had considered designing a police memorial tartan to pay homage to law enforcement officers who fell in the line of duty. We discussed what this tartan meant to us and decided to team up on the design. We spoke about the different colors to use and the symbolism that would be incorporated and Rocky designed the tartan that night. Less than a week later, we had approval from the Scottish Tartans Authority on the name and design.

Fifteen percent of all revenues of the Law Enforcement Officers’ Memorial Tartan will be donated to COPS, Concerns of Police Survivors. They are a certified charity who provide resources to surviving families of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. They also help to educate the public about the need to support law enforcement and its survivors.

Thank you for your interest in our tartan. I hope this short letter helps to explain why it means so much to us.

Sincerely,

Tim Welch Sr. badge #18
Newtown Township Police Department, retired
Delaware County, Pennsylvania USA

[Keys MacQuarrie]

Fabulous idea! I am a detention officer with the Yavapai County Sheriff's Office in Arizona (badge #8272) and would be proud to wear a tartan commemorating my fallen comrades.

[Riverkilt]

Beautiful. Wool or PV? There goes the tax refund...and hey, this might be the one that gets my little brother the California Cop Kilted.

Ron
Lake Oswego, Oregon Police 1964 -1965
Raleigh, North Carolina Police 1966 - 1969

[RockyR]

Wool at least for the first few runs (13 oz).

[OFCJAX]

I'm in.

Thanks guys.

[Arizona Scot]

Very cool, as a former correctional officer it is nice to see that some is thinking of my brothers.

[Rex_Tremende]

Bravo!

Rex.

[WhoDeySchenk]

Very very nice looking.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Rocky,

Let me just say that I think it's great that you have put so much effort into this project, and the Fire Fighter's Memorial Tartan. You are creating beautiful tartans to fill a needed niche, and at the same time doing something good for reputable charities. Really well done!

Matt