We design custom challenge coins for Border Patrol sectors, stations, academy classes, and specialized units like BORTAC and BORSTAR. Whether you’re marking a graduating class, a specific station’s own identity, or a career spent along the border, we build every coin around your team’s own story. Free artwork, unlimited revisions, and veteran-owned craftsmanship, on every order.
The Border Patrol Motto: “Honor First”
“Honor First” is the trademarked motto of the U.S. Border Patrol, guiding the agency since its founding in 1924. The motto was formally trademarked in 2010, and it represents the agency’s core value of integrity: acting rightly within lawful authority, even in difficult situations.
“Honor First” shows up across nearly every corner of Border Patrol culture, from official awards and ceremonies to coins commissioned by sectors, stations, and individual agents. A coin that carries the motto is tapping into the same identity every Border Patrol agent already recognizes.
Coins for Border Patrol Sectors and Stations
The Border Patrol organizes its coverage of the U.S. border into sectors, each overseeing a defined stretch of territory along the Southwest, Northern, or coastal borders.
Sector and Station Structure
Within each sector, individual stations handle day-to-day operations for a specific area, staffed by the agents actually working that ground.
This structure is exactly why sector- and station-level coins are so common. A sector-wide coin represents everyone working that stretch of border, while a station coin, like the one below, belongs to a single station’s own identity, its own area of operations, and its own agents.
Sectors Across the Border
Sectors along the Southwest border include long-established names like San Diego, El Centro, Yuma, Tucson, El Paso, Big Bend, Del Rio, Laredo, and Rio Grande Valley.
The Northern border is covered by sectors including Blaine, Spokane, Havre, Grand Forks, Detroit, Buffalo, Swanton, and Houlton, while the Coastal Border Sectors include Miami, New Orleans, and Ramey.
Whatever sector or station you’re representing, a coin can be built around that specific area’s own identity rather than a generic Border Patrol template.
The Laredo West Station
The Laredo West Border Patrol Station, established in 2007, sits at the Webb, Maverick, and Dimmit county lines, adjacent to the Del Rio Sector.
The station operates a permanent checkpoint on U.S. Highway 83, about a mile north of Texas Highway 44. It works closely with the neighboring Del Rio Sector, local law enforcement, and area landowners to detect and deter threats along its stretch of border.
Laredo West is a real example of this in practice, a coin built specifically for one station’s own identity.
BORTAC, BORSTAR and the Special Operations Group
The Border Patrol’s Special Operations Group (SOG) houses two specialized tactical units: BORTAC and BORSTAR.
BORTAC, the Border Patrol Tactical Unit, was established in 1984. The unit’s motto is “Erigere Rapidus,” and BORTAC is headquartered at Biggs Army Airfield. BORTAC has been part of the Special Operations Group, alongside BORSTAR, since 2007, when the two units were brought together under a shared command structure.
BORSTAR, the Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue unit, is headquartered in El Paso, Texas. Where BORTAC’s identity centers on tactical response, BORSTAR’s centers on saving lives, a distinction reflected in how each unit is recognized within the Border Patrol.
Both units carry a level of tradition and identity distinct from standard sector and station coins. A coin honoring BORTAC or BORSTAR service typically leans on the unit’s motto, insignia, and name, keeping the focus on recognition rather than operational detail.
Border Patrol Academy Class Coins
New Border Patrol agents complete training at the Border Patrol Academy before being assigned to a sector and station. Because agents train and graduate in numbered classes, a class coin is a natural way to mark that group’s shared time together before everyone scatters to different assignments.
Every new class is a potential coin, tied to a specific class number and graduation date. It’s a piece that stays tied to that particular group, no matter where each agent ends up being posted afterward.
What Goes on a Border Patrol Challenge Coin?
Border Patrol coins draw from a distinctive set of recurring elements:
- Agency insignia – the Border Patrol badge and related emblems anchor many designs.
- Sector and station identifiers – naming a specific sector or station ties a coin to a real place and a real team.
- The “Honor First” motto – shows up across coins at every level, from individual stations to national leadership.
- Thin green line elements – the black-and-silver flag with a single green stripe is widely associated with Border Patrol, appearing on coins the same way it appears on patches and flags across the agency.
- Class numbers – for Academy graduation coins specifically.
- Terrain and geographic motifs – reflecting the specific landscape a sector or station covers.
- Memorial elements – for coins honoring agents killed in the line of duty.
Some coins go beyond these standard elements entirely, built around a program’s own identity, like the detection dogs and canine badge on our CBP Agriculture Specialist coin.
Can You Put a Federal Agency Seal or Badge on a Coin?
Border Patrol seals and badges carry the same federal usage restrictions as other agency marks, and reproducing a badge is generally more tightly controlled than reproducing a seal.
Before putting an official mark on a coin, we’ll need authorization from your sector or station, so it’s worth checking with your chain of command early in the design process.
Just like our other custom-made CBP challenge coins, we build from artwork you’re cleared to share with us, and can help shape a design around your sector or station’s identity even without an official seal or badge in the mix.
About This Laredo West Station Coin
The Laredo West Station wanted a coin that stood apart from a typical round design, choosing the shape of the Star Spangled Banner instead: a rectangular coin styled after the American flag, reflecting a station that operates along one of the busiest stretches of the Southwest border.
The front is embossed rather than printed, giving the flag’s stripes and stars real dimension rather than a flat surface. The design carries the thin green line, a single green stripe set among the black and silver stripes, paired with a gold Border Patrol Agent badge and the station’s own identifier lettered directly into the design. “Laredo West Border Patrol Station” is lettered along the base of the coin, tying the design unmistakably to this one station.
The reverse takes a different approach entirely, printed rather than embossed, carrying a passage the station chose from the writing of Ernest Hemingway.
Design a Coin for Your Sector or Station
Whether you’re representing a sector, a station, the Academy, or a specialized unit like BORTAC or BORSTAR, we can help you build a coin around your team’s own identity.
- Free professional artwork
- Unlimited design revisions
- Free shipping within the continental U.S.
- 50-coin minimum
- Rush production available for graduation dates
Your story deserves to be honored. Let’s craft a coin that carries its meaning for generations.
Tell us about your coin, and request free coin artwork to get started.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Border Patrol motto?
“Honor First” is the trademarked motto of the U.S. Border Patrol. It’s been guiding the agency since its founding in 1924.
How is the Border Patrol organized into sectors and stations?
The Border Patrol divides border coverage into sectors, each overseeing a stretch of the Southwest, Northern, or coastal border. Individual stations within each sector handle day-to-day operations for a specific area.
Is the Border Patrol part of CBP or DHS?
The Border Patrol is the uniformed law enforcement arm of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), one of several Department of Homeland Security agencies we’ve designed DHS component coins for.
What does BORTAC stand for?
BORTAC stands for Border Patrol Tactical Unit, a specialized tactical team within the Border Patrol’s Special Operations Group.
What is BORSTAR?
BORSTAR, the Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue unit, is trained in emergency search and rescue, medical evacuation, and tactical emergency medical response.
What is the thin green line?
The thin green line is a black-and-silver flag design with a single green stripe, widely associated with the U.S. Border Patrol.
Do Border Patrol academy classes order challenge coins?
Yes. Academy graduation classes commonly commission coins to mark their shared time in training, identified by class number.
What goes on a Border Patrol challenge coin?
Common elements include agency insignia, sector or station identifiers, the “Honor First” motto, thin green line elements, and geographic or terrain motifs specific to a station’s area. We’ve applied this same attention to detail across the CBP family, including our CBP Chief’s coin.
Can I put a Border Patrol badge on a custom coin?
Reproducing an official Border Patrol badge or seal is restricted under federal law and typically requires authorization from your agency. We can work from artwork your sector or station has approved, or help design around your unit’s identity without relying on a restricted badge.
What is the minimum order?
Our standard minimum order is 50 coins.
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