A new series of badges was introduced in 1957 by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).  They were completely different in design and appearance from any badges previously worn by Texas state lawmen.

The badge is a round disc with the Texas Lone Star in the center.  Between the points of the star are the letters “T E X A S”.  The central design is surrounded by the inscription “DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY” at the top with the “(Agency or Service)” at the bottom.  The area between the star points and surrounding lettering is hard-fired blue enamel.  Badges for the lower ranks are silver, while those for supervisory and management personnel are gold.  The badge is slightly curved around the vertical axis.

1957 Series, Texas Rangers:

With one exception , all 1957 Series Texas Ranger (TR) badges were made by Haltom, Fort Worth, Texas.  Haltom used two different and distinct dies to make TR badges, which for the purposes of this article are called Type I and Type II.  Badges for other DPS agencies were made over a longer period of time by several different manufacturers.

1957 Series, Type I Texas Ranger badge in gold, as worn by Captains and the Chief

Type I badges, introduced in 1957, were made using a universal DPS badge die without the agency or service lettering at the bottom.  The inscription at the bottom was added during the manufacturing process by machine engraving. In this case “TEXAS RANGER”  was the added inscription.  Once this process was completed, the badge was curved, cleaned, enameled, plated and polished.

Type I badges are makermarked on the reveres, but NOT numbered. They are 47.6 mm in diameter.  Ranger ranks were not used on Type 1 badges.  Rangers and Sergeants were issued silver badges while Captains and the Chief wore gold.

1957 Series, Type II Texas Rangers badge in silver, as worn by Rangers

Type II badges are struck from a new DPS/TR custom die, inscribed “TEXAS RANGERS” at the bottom. 

With the exception of the lowest rank (Ranger) ranks were included as part of the Type II badge design.  Planchets were struck with the new die, with the rank machine engraved on the center star.  The badge then went through the normal processes of completion. 

Type II badges are both makermarked and numbered on the reveres and are 44+ mm  in diameter. Rangers and Sergeants were issued silver badges while Captains, one Chaplain and the Chief wore gold.

The ’57 series badge was never liked by DPS members and was derisively called the “Bottlecap”.  While all other DPS personnel wore this series badge until 1978, the Rangers received a new badge in 1961.