Woodinville Fire & Rescue Department

The Woodinville Fire & Rescue Department’s custom badge pays homage to its firefighting tradition, natural regional beauty, and proximity to the Cascades. The badge is a Maltese Cross, a popular heraldic symbol of firefighting dating back to the Crusades. The Maltese cross represents courage, sacrifice, and a commitment to helping others. What makes the Woodinville Maltese Cross unique to their badge is the tribute to the natural elements of the Pacific Northwest and the tradition of hot air balloon rides over the Cascade Mountains at the top of their badge.

Woodinville customized their center seal with their monogram, adding something unique to their badge. The selection of symbols on either side of their custom seal was also personal to their department. On one side is the Rod of Asclepius, representing the first aid role of firefighters. On the other side is the department’s fire scramble, which is a grouping of modern and traditional fire symbols. Woodinville’s fire scramble elements include a ladder, a pike pole, and an ax. When grouped, these fire tools of the trade symbolize preparedness and readiness.

What they were hoping to achieve with the inclusion of these personal design elements was a very high level of sculptural, 3-dimensional detail. The BadgeStudio design process, which progressed from a concept sketch to a full 3D graphic render of their badge, provided a high level of confidence in how the detail and dimension of each special element would appear on the finished badge. 

At Smith & Warren, the BadgeStudio design service is a blend of sharing our badge design and manufacturing expertise through conversation and deliverables, like the concept sketch, 3D graphic render, and actual sample badges. Seeing is believing, and so is holding the sample badge! We continue with the design process until your department decides the design is perfect.