Thames Valley Police reveal new identity

Thames Valley Police is changing its 'visual identity' by dropping its coat of arms for what the force say is a simpler image.

At a time when Police resources are stretched some might question the force's priorities but Thames Valley Police say they need to reflect the modern policing service they provide and that new identity is strong, clear and simpler.

Strong, Clear and Simpler

A Thames Valley Police spokesperson said:

"After over 50 years since our formation, we are refreshing our visual identity. We were granted our Coat of Arms in 1972, which was added to a shield shape, with the chequerboard and our name in the 1990s and in use ever since.

"The world has changed dramatically since 1968 and we need to reflect the modern policing service we provide. We are now investigating types of crimes that were unimaginable 50 years ago and living in a completely different social and digital age. We’ve taken inspiration from the coat of arms to maintain a sense of history and from now on will protect the use of it for ceremonial purposes. We are proud to have now created a strong, clear and simpler identity, which is accessible, scalable and over time, can be consistently applied so that we are easily recognisable in all our work to protect our communities.

"We are sensitive to our responsibility to be a sustainable organisation, delivering value for money for the public. The development work behind this has been done with in-house design expertise, with no consultancy costs. Starting internally at no extra cost with the roll out of digital materials such as email signatures, templates, MS Teams backgrounds etc., this will take time to filter across all our documents and forms. In the meantime, it will be visible to our partners in our communications and joint activity.

"From the end of April, you will start to see it across our external channels including our website and social media accounts. For example, physical items such as signage and vehicles will be updated in line with when they are routinely due for replacement. This means, we expect the full refresh of our identity to take time to be fully in place."

The coat of arms will still be used for ceremonial events

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