This practice continued, in one form or another, until 1935 when badges and credentials were specified for all Texas Rangers. 

Earliest Authenticated Texas Ranger Badge circa 1889

 The first Texas Ranger badges were made for individual Rangers from Mexican coins at their request. Some were probably made by jewelers, others may have been made by gunsmiths or metalworkers. The legend of Rangers cutting them out of coins around campfires is unlikely.

These first badges were used as a means of identifying Rangers in the midst of feuds and disputes that might involve several law enforcement agencies, or where hired guns were introduced. Photographs taken in the 1870s through the 1920s show that there was a great variety of badges and that comparatively few Rangers wore badges.

Shortly after the Texas Rangers were merged with the Department of Public Safety, a new badge design was issued by the state. Roughly oval-shaped, it contained the legend "Dept. of Public Safety", the letters T-E-X-A-S and a star with the rank in the center. Captains were issued gold badges, lower ranks received silver.

The change to the new badge presents a streamlined version of the very first in badges for state lawmen who find their beginning in the "Texas Rangers in the year 1823 when Stephen F. Austin appointed 10 "Rangers" to protect settlers from Indians.

Badges have been part of the equipment of law enforcement officers for hundreds of years. They originated in ancient times when the armored knights wore a insignia to announce their official status and allegiances.

No one knows exactly how the badge got its start in Texas and little is known of the type of badge that was first carved from Mexican silver dollars by Rangers who rode across the southern and western parts of Texas, fighting Indians and Mexicans.

The name Rangers was applied to the group selected in 1823 for their chore of "riding the range" of "ranging about the country" fighting Indians. The first Rangers were successful in their mission of Indian fighting and were officially adopted as the law enforcement body for the people of Texas in 1835. But the Rangers were not to have official badges until 1935.

The circle-star badge is believed to be related to the adoption of the state seal. A letter written by Charles B. Stewart in 1835, now in the Texas State Archives, states that he used a pearl button in the shape of a five-pointed star to make an impression in wax as the first state seal. This was during the convention of Texans who met to proclaim their independence from Mexico. They also sent three men, Sam Houston, John Cameron and John Forbes to parlay, with the Indians. The impromptu-wax seal created by Stewart, who served as secretary of the convention, was on their commissions.

As Stewart stated it in his letter of 1835, the star is "A fitting emblem of a new star arisen-in the galaxy of states (nations)." Thus, marked the beginning of a five-pointed star officially accepted in the flag of the "Lone Star State," and the first state law enforcement badge.

The new badge of the Texas DPS, placed into service around July 1 (figure 1), is a modern version of the old Ranger badge with a five-pointed star surrounded with a royal blue background and silver or gold letters that spell out TEXAS. The lettering on the outer circle is in royal blue and the background is gold or silver, depending upon the wearer's rank.