What's the history of lawmen wearing stars?

by waltjrimmer

The title is very broad, I know. My main concern is where did it start. I've seen all kinds of movies, books, games, TV shows, and other media depicting the tin/brass/other star of a sheriff, marshall, or other lawman. But it seems an odd choice of symbol for the law.

So, where did it begin? Is it unique to the US? Is there a reason for it, does it symbolize something, or was it just a convenient shape that could easily be replicated?

I really expected to find this question already asked and answered in this sub, so I did do a search before asking, several actually. But I wasn't able to find one. So, I am sorry if I somehow missed that it's already been answered.

itsallfolklore

Here is a badge for a deputy serving in Virginia City in the Nevada Territory (which existed from 1861 to 1864). It's pretty much what the stereotype of a badge in the West should look like.

What's surprising is that this is for a deputy assessor! The great grand daughter of the assessor allowed me to photograph the badge for an article I was writing on Manx immigration to the West. Without her testimony (she was descendent from Manx immigrants), it would be easy to look at an artifact like this and assume it was for someone involved in law enforcement. At the same time, the lack of a clear designation tells me that deputies and their superiors in a wide variety of positions were carrying badges - and this includes for lawmen.

In fact, the nineteenth century West was big on emblems of office and of honors received. Badges were particularly useful when carrying out one's official duties: when someone flashes a badge (even if he is a deputy assessor!), a shared understanding is quickly communicated.

I'm not sure about the origin of the star and when it was first worn. Numerous sites on the internet offer explanations, but this doesn't necessarily lead to the truth. They do provide clear evidence that people have tried to answer these questions, often with "folk explanations," a common phenomenon in folklore that is often far removed from fact. So that doesn't help much.

Assertions that the star-badge has medieval roots suggest an antiquity for the motif, but I don't know if we can trust these.

Can anyone help with an answer to when it began and why a star?