The city seal, adopted in 1973, was retired during a ceremony on Dec. 6, 2022, at City Hall. 

The city seal was redesigned as part of the Connecting Fairfax City for All initiative. 

The City of Fairfax Fire Department and Police Department badges and patches were retired during the ceremony, as both departments’ badges and shoulder patches included elements of the former city seal. Our Police Department has proudly served our community while wearing its badge and patch since 1980, shortly after the former city seal was adopted. Staff from the police department were instrumental in designing the new badge and patch.

During this transition, we will not be accepting patch requests. We appreciate your understanding.

The History of the City of Fairfax Police Department Patch

The Town of Fairfax Police Department was established in 1949. The name was changed to the City of Fairfax Police Department when the city was incorporated in 1961.

Since its establishment, the police department had four patches.

The first patch was a triangle with the words Fairfax Town Police Va. (pictured, above, left).

The second patch had the words Fairfax Town Police Va. and featured a monument and cannon that once stood in front of the Historic Fairfax Courthouse (pictured, left).

In 1961, the word town was removed from the patch (below, left). 

In 1965, the patch changed to read Fairfax City Police Virginia, with a cannon and the cupola of City Hall (pictured, bottom, left).

In 1980, the City of Fairfax Police Department changed the uniform shoulder patch to the current style (pictured, at top) with the city seal created for the city in 1973 by the College of Arms in London.