The Fraternal Order of Police, or FOP, is a fraternal organization of sworn law enforcement officers, organized into local lodges, state lodges, and a national Grand Lodge. Each lodge has its own number and identity, and many fund their own coins through member dues or fundraisers.
What Is the Fraternal Order of Police?
The FOP is a fraternal organization for sworn law enforcement officers across the United States. Its membership is organized in tiers:
- Local lodges gather officers from one community.
- State lodges bring the local lodges in a state together.
- The national Grand Lodge oversees the whole structure.
Each lodge has its own number, name, leadership, and membership. The structure runs to thousands of lodges nationwide.
How Are FOP Lodges Organized?
Most members join through a local lodge, which draws its officers from one community. Knowing your level matters, because each level places its own orders. A local lodge orders for its own members and events. A state lodge orders for conferences and seminars across the state. Neither waits on the other.
Agencies ordering for themselves, such as a state patrol, are a different buyer. See state police agency coins for those designs.
Why Lodges and Police Associations Order Coins
FOP lodges fund themselves through membership dues or a fundraiser. Municipal departments pay from a public budget and follow their own process, as in our municipal police department coins.
A police association challenge coin is often sold to members, so price and quantity matter. The person placing the order is usually a lodge officer who handles it alongside a full-time job in law enforcement.
Membership turns over as officers join, transfer, and retire. A lodge that orders once tends to order again. Common occasions include lodge anniversaries and charter dates, state conferences and seminars, memorial events, charitable fundraisers, retirements, and member recognition.
Other independent police groups buy the same way. These include police benevolent associations, retired officer groups, honor guards, and memorial associations. Firefighter unions also fund their coins from dues. Our coins for firefighter locals follow the same pattern.
What Goes on an FOP or Police Association Coin?
Most designs start with the FOP star and emblem, where their use is authorized. Lodge numbers, state outlines, regional imagery, mottos, and charter dates fill in the rest. Blue and gold are common across this community.
Memorial coins are also made for lodges and associations.
About This Washington FOP Lodge Coin
This Fraternal Order of Police challenge coin was made for Matt Herzog Memorial Lodge #24 in Whatcom County, Washington. The lodge is part of the Washington State Fraternal Order of Police (WSFOP).
- Star on both faces: Each point extends past the coin’s outer edge, with lettering worked into the points.
- Engraved scenery: Mountains and forest are cut into the metal.
- Lodge details: The lodge name and location are lettered around the border.
- FOP emblem: The lodge’s FOP emblem is part of the engraved detail.
- Color: Strong blue and yellow fills stand out against the engraved lines.
- Outline width: The engraved outlines are cut to the right width, so the color sits inside each line cleanly.
A star that breaks the coin’s edge is difficult to produce well. Nothing protects an element past the rim, so it takes wear first and has to be built to last through years of handling. A similar approach appears in a design that breaks the coin’s outline.
Can We Use the FOP Emblem on a Coin?
The FOP emblem and star are the organization’s own marks, so they go on a coin only with approval. If you’re ordering for a lodge, confirm that early, before the design is final.
We work from artwork the customer is authorized to supply. We can also build a design around your lodge’s number, colors, and history with no official emblem at all.
Design a Coin for Your Lodge or Association
Planning a Fraternal Order of Police challenge coin for a local lodge, state lodge, benevolent association, or memorial group? Build it around your own number, colors, and history. Artwork is free and professionally done, and you can revise it as many times as you need. A digital proof comes before anything goes to production.
Orders start at 50 coins, and shipping within the continental U.S. is free. Most orders are finished 45 to 50 days after artwork approval, and rush production is available. Embleholics is a veteran-owned shop in Port Orchard, Washington, and is SDVOSB registered in SAM.
Browse our custom police challenge coins for ideas, or send us your lodge’s details for a quote.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Fraternal Order of Police?
The Fraternal Order of Police is a fraternal organization of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. It is organized into local lodges, state lodges, and a national Grand Lodge, and each lodge has its own number, name, and leadership.
What is an FOP lodge?
An FOP lodge is a local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police. It brings together officers from one community and has its own number, name, leadership, and membership. State lodges group the local lodges within a state.
Can a lodge order its own challenge coins?
Yes. Individual lodges fund and order their own coins directly, separate from any state or national FOP body. Embleholics built one for a Washington State FOP lodge in Whatcom County.
Can lodges sell coins to their members to raise funds?
Yes. Many lodges sell coins to members to cover the cost of the order or to support a lodge fundraiser. Membership turns over, so lodges often reorder.
What goes on a Fraternal Order of Police coin?
Common elements include the FOP star and emblem where authorized, a lodge number, state or regional imagery, mottos, and charter dates. Blue and gold are frequent color choices.
Can we use the FOP emblem on a challenge coin?
Yes, with authorization. The emblem is the organization’s own mark, so approval comes first. We work from artwork your lodge is authorized to supply, or we can design around your lodge’s own identity without the emblem.
Can a coin have a shape that extends past its edge?
Yes. A design element such as a star point can extend past the coin’s round outline. It needs careful engineering, since an element past the rim has no edge protecting it.
What is the minimum order?
The minimum order for a custom challenge coin is 50 pieces. Free shipping within the continental U.S. applies, and most orders are finished 45 to 50 days after artwork approval.
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