The Short, Fraught History of the ‘Thin Blue Line’ American Flag
Now, Jacob is the president of Thin Blue Line USA, one of the largest online retailers devoted exclusively to sales of pro-police flags, T-shirts, neckwear and jewelry. Jacob said the flag was not a direct reaction to the first Black Lives Matter protests-an idea suggested by a previous origin story in Harper's-but he allows he may have first seen the thin blue line image after those protests spurred the circulation of pro-police imagery online. White understands how the thin blue line flag has become a part of police culture, and that officers may view it as a sign of solidarity, but he also worries about the message it sends to the public. In the 1950s, "The Thin Blue Line" was the title of a short-lived television show about the Los Angeles Police Department, masterminded by the chief, William H. Parker, who took advantage of Hollywood's proximity to make public relations a key part of his tenure. Criminologists Don L. Kurtz and Alayna Colburn have analyzed t...