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Police Flags (Israel)

Overview
Police Flag and Ensign
Police Ceremonial Flag
Border Guard (Mishmar Ha'Gvul)
Civil Guard (Mishmar Ezrakhi)
Marine Police (Shitur Yami)

See also:

Israel

Overview

At <www.police.gov.il>, one can find the Israel Police regulations concerning use of flags by the police.
There is no description of flags only acknowledgement of them:
The document is "GHQ orders no. 05.06.01 - Flags and Standards in Israel Police".
Sect 2 deal with the use of the Police flags:
1) Israel Police flag
2) Police District Flag (which is really 6 different flags as the Police have six districts - North, Central, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, South and SHAI [= Shomron and Yehuda - Samaria and Judea])
3) Border Guard Flag
4) AKAM flag (AKAM = Agaf Kehila VeMishmar Ezrahi - Community and Civil Guard Wing)
The specifications of the flags will be determined by rules that are issued by the Human Resources Wing.
The list of abolished regulation reveals that the police used to have regulations concerning "flags of ships and boats", "flag of the Inspector General" and "flag of police cavalry" .
Dov Gutterman, 14 February 2005

Police Flag and Ensign

2:3
image by Željko Heimer

The Israel police flag is the police emblem centered on a blue background, taking a third of its height. The police flag is used on police boats.
Source: author's observation.
Dov Gutterman, 6 January and 19 August 2001

The police boats are small vessels (speed-boats) and the flag is on their mast. No other flag hoisted.
Dov Gutterman, 9 October 2001

Police Ceremonial Flag

2:3
image by Željko Heimer

The rank flag for the General Inspector of Israel Police is quite similar to the Minister of Defence but with the police emblem on the lower fly. Here are scans of the General Inspector's flag and a detail of the emblem.
Dov Gutterman, 6 January 2001

The Police General Inspector flag, as all other Israeli flags, has a single shade of blue. I saw the flag and indeed it had the same shade of blue throughout. The colour used in actual practice is somewhere between the two shades of blue in a browser-safe palette, and darker than in the above image.
Dov Gutterman, 8 September 2001

At the Israeli National Photo Collection there is a photo of "SALUTE TO THE NEW POLICE PENNANT PRESENTED AT A CEREMONY AT THE SHEFARAM POLICE TRAINING DEPOT".
Since the regular police flag that is hoisted on all police stations is the emblem on blue", I thought that this one must be a personal flag.
Therefore, this flag is not Police General Inspector rank flag, but the ceremonial flag of the police.
Dov Gutterman, 12 March 2005

Border Guard

Mishmar HaGvul

image by Željko Heimer, 15 January 2006

One more police flag that I know about (but lack the emblem to draw it) is the Border Guard flag: green with the police emblem on top hoist and Border Guard emblem (a symbol of a tower with an inscription below it) on the lower fly. Source: author's observation. Photos of the flag at <www.police.gov.il>.
The Border Guard is not a independent force but a part of Israel Police, with his commander having a police rank of Nitzav (Major-General).
Dov Gutterman, 19 August and 25 October 2001 and 6 January 2005

The border guard was established on 26 April 1953 and replaced the previous Frontier Force. The name Mishmar HaGvul was given by the first PM, David Ben-Gurion. The green color was chosen as the color that represent the international border on the maps ("Green Line") as well as the ruling color of the north which symbolize blossom and flourish.
The fort in the emblem is a "Galilee Type" Tegart police fort whose unique shape with the watch-tower represent strength, firmness, control and guarding the border in sanative areas.
Sir Charles Tegart, a British anti-terrorism expert from India was brought to Palestine in 1938. He suggested to build a massive fence along the north border as well police forts around the country. Altogether he planed five types of forts in different sizes. Altogether 56 forts were built. Many of them are still used today as police stations.
Some became battlefields in the Independence (i.e Iraq-Suidan - today Metzudat Yo'av , Latrun, Nabi Yisha - today Metzudt Ko'akh).
Six of those forts, known as the 'Galilee type' were build along the "north road" and "north fence". They were placed in strategic points and seen from far with their unique shape. Photo of one at <www.snunit.k12.il>.
Sources: <www.police.gov.il>, <www.tzafonet.org.il>.
Dov Gutterman, 15 January 2007

Marine Police (Shitur Yami)

During my visit at Tel-Aviv today, I ate in a resturant that is situated at Atarim Marina (a.k.a Tel-Aviv Marina), which is also the homebase of Tel Aviv Marine Police Unit (Shitur Yami Tel Aviv)
There were two mast-like flag poles. The "marina" pole with national flag above and below it Tel-Aviv's municipal flag and "Atarim Marina" flag (logo on white). More interesting was the "police" pole with the national flag at center, police flag on left and the Marine Police unit flag on the right.
And quite odd flag - a purple naval ensign with unit emblem replacing the Magen David. I don't know why they use purple instead of dark blue, and its looks quite odd next to the blue-white national flag and almost all blue police flag.
I checked the police boats, but both have only a small size police flags.
Dov Gutterman, 25 July 2005