# Checkerboard hat ribbon = Police? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 1, 2014, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checkerboard-hat-ribbon-police/705989 "2014-12-01T00:54:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checkerboard-hat-ribbon-police/705989/1 "2014-12-01T00:54:04Z")
I’m curious about something I see regularly on UK and NZ/Aus news footage. The police regularly have a checkerboard ribbon around their hats. Does that in and of itself designate a police officer? i.e. If I wasn’t wearing anything else incriminating but was wearing a hat with a checkerboard ribbon around it, would I be liable to being charged for incriminating a police officer? ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_Bow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85f322/32.png) [@Jim\_Bow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_Bow)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checkerboard-hat-ribbon-police/705989/2 "2014-12-01T01:15:04Z")
In the U.S. the answer is “no”. Probably the same in Canada. Checkerboard pattern hatbands are not specific to police. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checkerboard-hat-ribbon-police/705989/3 "2014-12-01T01:17:11Z")
Perhaps impersonating a taxi driver? ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checkerboard-hat-ribbon-police/705989/4 "2014-12-01T01:20:32Z")
I don’t know what the law might say, but the blue checkerboard association is very strong. Red/yellow checkerboard or stripes for emergency services. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checkerboard-hat-ribbon-police/705989/5 "2014-12-01T01:34:45Z")
Wikipedia calls the checkerboard pattern the [Sillitoe tartan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sillitoe_Tartan). ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checkerboard-hat-ribbon-police/705989/6 "2014-12-01T01:51:41Z")
As mentioned in the Sillitoe wiki, it is definitely A Thing with the Chicago Police. ---
**Author:** ![Jaguars](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaguars/32/5879_2.png) [@Jaguars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaguars)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checkerboard-hat-ribbon-police/705989/7 "2014-12-01T03:02:42Z")
In NZ, the checkerboard doesn’t define you as a police officer. Officers take an oath at the end of their training courses, I believe. Wearing the tartan bands wouldn’t get you arrested for impersonating an officer unless you were wearing them in a convincing way and could be shown to be wearing them with criminal intentions, I think. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checkerboard-hat-ribbon-police/705989/8 "2014-12-01T03:19:22Z")
In the UK, the offence of impersonating a Police Officer only applies if there is clear intent to deceive. Merely wearing something that looks like a Police hat band probably won’t do that, depending on circumstance. Heck, you can buy plastic versions of the [classic domed police helmet](https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=uk+police&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB505GB505&espv=2&biw=994&bih=490&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=bd17VOvoCsnVPOzxgfgE&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#tbm=isch&q=uk%20police%20officer&revid=770749433&imgdii=_) in any tourist shop in London. But yes, the checkerboard pattern on a hat is a police thing. They have it on police vehicles too ([but in blue and yellow](https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=uk+police&rlz=1C5CHFA_enGB505GB505&espv=2&biw=994&bih=490&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=bd17VOvoCsnVPOzxgfgE&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#tbm=isch&q=uk%20police%20car&revid=9556994&imgdii=_)). ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checkerboard-hat-ribbon-police/705989/9 "2014-12-01T03:24:18Z")
In Canada, it seems to vary - the red band around the typical police hat rim indicates a city police officer; the RCMP wear a gold band, and IIRC the OPP (Ontario Provincial Police) seem to have a light blue band. Googling images for the Surete de Quebec, I see a lot of them in cammo fatigues. Google any police force, and the vast majority of pics they don’t wear their hats. “Impersonating a police officer” probably has a lot more to do with the specific situation and how you present yourself rather than a particular hat style. No doubt if the hat looks too much like a police hat and you seem to act like a policeman (I.e. I assume I can walk past these gates into the rock concert) you might be arrested. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checkerboard-hat-ribbon-police/705989/10 "2014-12-01T04:04:17Z")
In Australia, the pattern isn’t just used to identify police officers: it’s used to identify [police](https://www.flickr.com/photos/75905404@N00/8371425680/) [stations](https://www.flickr.com/photos/75905404@N00/6338266786/) as well. However, I doubt if just using the pattern without anything else to identify you as police would be illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checkerboard-hat-ribbon-police/705989/11 "2014-12-01T04:26:16Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > As mentioned in the Sillitoe wiki, it is definitely A Thing with the Chicago Police. Yeah. And I just gotta laugh at all these civilians who hang those checkerboard headbands on their rear view mirrors thinking that it will prevent them from getting a ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checkerboard-hat-ribbon-police/705989/12 "2014-12-01T04:48:55Z")
Someone wearing a checkerboard hat ribbon but no shirt is probably not a cop. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checkerboard-hat-ribbon-police/705989/13 "2014-12-01T05:07:35Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Googling images for the Surete de Quebec, I see a lot of them in cammo fatigues. Yeah, no, that’s 'cause they’re protesting against pension cuts or somesuch. They do baseball caps too sometimes. But as I recall there is nothing special about the rims or ribbons on their normal hats. Certainly no checkerboard. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checkerboard-hat-ribbon-police/705989/14 "2014-12-01T05:22:13Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Someone wearing a checkerboard hat ribbon but no shirt is probably not a cop. Especially if he shows up being arrested on COPS. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bluezooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@bluezooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluezooky)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/checkerboard-hat-ribbon-police/705989/15 "2014-12-01T06:39:40Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > In Australia, the pattern isn’t just used to identify police officers: it’s used to identify [police](https://www.flickr.com/photos/75905404@N00/8371425680/) [stations](https://www.flickr.com/photos/75905404@N00/6338266786/) as well. However, I doubt if just using the pattern without anything else to identify you as police would be illegal. It’s illegal to use that pattern on a motor vehicle, can’t see a problem wearing it on you clothing.