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Border Patrol (U.S.)

Last modified: 2024-03-30 by rick wyatt
Keywords: border patrol | departmental | united states |
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[Flag of Border Patrol] image by Joe McMillan, 24 January 2001



See also:


Description of the flag

The U.S. Border Patrol is an arm of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, part of the Department of Justice. The flag is dark green with a golden yellow border, and the Border Patrol emblem in the center surrounded by 23 stars (representing the sectors and other units of the Border Patrol) and the date of establishment.
Joe McMillan, 24 January 2001

I contacted the National Border Patrol Museum and it was confirmed that the flag shown above is still in use by the Border Patrol (which is now part of Dept of Homeland Security) and has been in use since very well before 1999. A split tail Border Patrol banner is also used and has been in use for many years. The rectangular green flag, with stars, BP logo, and the date May 28, 1924 is a ceremonial Border Patrol flag.
Ben Cahoon, 6 December 2008

"The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) traces its origins as far as the legacy agencies continued from:
- U.S. Customs Service, which traced its original functions to July 31, 1789, and noted its role as the progenitor of numerous federal bureaus and agencies. The Customs Service closed with the dawn of CBP, but its commissioner became the leader of CBP and the majority of its staff and responsibilities came to CBP.
- Immigration inspectors, who traced their responsibilities to the establishment of the Office of the Superintendent of Immigration on March 3, 1891.
- Agriculture inspectors of the Department of Agriculture from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), who traced their roles to the passage of the Plant Quarantine Act on Aug. 20, 1912.

The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson–Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins Act (also known as Quota Act) enacted on May 26, 1924 authorized the formation of the U.S. Border Patrol on May 26, 1924. Two days later, the Labor Appropriation Act of 1924 established the Border Patrol as an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor assigned to prevent illegal entries - primarily along the Mexico-United States border, as well as the Canada–U.S. border"
Sources: https://www.cbp.gov/about/history,
https://www.cbp.gov/about/history/timeline,
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/border_security/border_patrol/border_patrol_ohs/history.xml, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Border_Patrol and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Act_of_1924

[Flag of Border Patrol]

The pennant is the same (in shape and form) as the INS Pennant, which is (partly) described as follows: "Burgee shaped, 48 inches on the staff, 102 inches fly, 26 inches at the fly end, with a 25 inch swallowtail, the inside of the cut to be "well-rounded rather than sharp or V-shaped." The field white with the Seal of the Border Patrol (https://en.wikipedia.org). Along each upper and lower edge, a yellow stripe 6 1/4 inches wide."

Image attached cropped image from https://d279m997dpfwgl.cloudfront.net/wp/2018/01/0130_border-patrol-1000x680.jpg, source: https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2018/01/30/border-patrol-no-more-deaths-videos

For additional information go to CBP (official website): http://www.cbp.gov/
Esteban Rivera, 11 February 2019


Unofficial "Fit for Duty : Go Beyond" recruitment ad illustration

[Flag of Border Patrol] image located by William Garrison, 21 February 2024

Flag variant seen in U.S. Border Patrol "Fit For Duty : Go Beyond" recruitment ad; appears to be a 2' x 3' flag used in introductory "boot camp" or "basic training" unit-identification and "follow the flag" physical exercises/runs; c. Feb. 2024.
Source: a U.S. Border Patrol ad.
William Garrison, 21 February 2024

As it features a defaced US flag, I doubt that it's any kind of official symbol.
Dave Fowler, 21 February 2024