Several months ago, Art Pinney, Patriot Wood’s craftsman, built Patriot Wood’s first Thin Blue Line Wood Flag. This wooden flag combines the Thin Blue Line emblem with the flag of the United States. Used by law enforcement, the Thin Blue Line emblem’s simple design depicts a central, horizontal blue line separating two black lines. Patriot Wood’s Thin Blue Line Wood Flag integrates this emblem into a black-and-white version of the American flag for a beautiful and symbolic combination.
We don’t have a formal process for choosing which flags we’ll build next. Most of the time, it comes down to what you tell us you’d like us to build—we want to make the flags and wall art you want! Sometimes these requests come from informal conversations, and sometimes they’re custom-order requests. We also often iterate existing flags in our catalog, creating different versions of flags we’ve already built. Other flags have just been on our build list for a long time—some because of historical importance and others because they have a strong story that catches our attention.
But the events that led to the Thin Blue Line Wood Flag’s creation were a bit different. Art decided to build this flag after he was touched by current events and wanted to show his support for law enforcement.
One situation in particular affected and inspired Art: earlier this year, Officer Brian Moore died tragically in the line of duty. Moore, just 25 years old, was an up-and-coming, well-liked and respected police officer. Moore’s tragic death happened at a time when police officers were getting an increasingly bad rap from the press.
Art’s deep respect for those in law enforcement and how they serve the community, combined with the lasting effects Moore’s death had on him, led to the creation of this flag—a flag he hoped will be a source of inspiration and strength for law-enforcement officers and their families. He also hoped it’ll give him an opportunity to thank some officers for their service and get to know their stories.
The response to the Thin Blue Line Wood flag was greater than we could’ve imagined. After it launched, it quickly became Patriot Wood’s most-popular flag. But what we value even more than its popularity is the chance it’s given us to hear other people’s stories.
The Thin Blue Line Wood Flag has gone to officers around the country, including Ralph Friedman, the most-decorated NYPD cop in history, and Fort Lauderdale Captain Luis Alvarez, who bought the first flag. For Art, hearing from them is one of the greatest joys in his job.
Since launching the first Thin Blue Line Wood Flag, we’ve built several different versions per customer request. These include a vintage Thin Blue Line Wood Flag, a version with a Bible verse, and many others personalized with police officer’s names.
The Thin Blue Line emblem honors the men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice, the more than 100 law-enforcement officers who are killed every year. When something bad happens, most people run away—yet they ran toward it, to protect others. To every police officer, we say thank you for your bravery and your sacrifices.
