In view of the fact that I was involved in this change to a minor degree and that the late former Superintendent Bob Matheson made the translation, I thought I would comment on this and a few other matters concerning our uniforms. The main reason for the change was that most Queensland police officers who wore this patch did not know what CONSTANTIA AC COMITATE was in English - that is FIRMNESS WITH COURTESY.

With the help of Mr Allan Baker, an avid collector of army and police uniforms who now lives in Childers, I will trace the uniforms through and hopefully this will cover those worn by all of our members.

To 1960 when I was sworn in city police had a navy blue uniform with a dark grey long sleeved shirt, and I think, a black tie. The trousers had a dark blue stripe down each side. The cap badge and belt buckle were the only items that bore any identification; that is 'Queensland Police', although all officers had a number that they wore on the shoulder of their shirt in summer, or tunic in winter. It was coat on for winter and coat off for summer.

Country police had a khaki type shirt, coat and trousers and again no markings except on the belt buckle and cap badge. I was one of the first to be issued with collared shirts because I recall getting two of these and two without collars with a handful of detachable collars. Those who served prior to 1960 will remember the collarless shirts and detachable collars. Probably their wives will remember them more clearly.

About 1965 to 1975: Moved to drab olive uniform and khaki shirts with brown ties. Again coat on or off for summer-winter but on the tunics the numbers were moved to the lapels while they stayed on the shoulder of shirts for summer. There was no patch, and from recollection, we changed the belt buckle over from a black to a brown belt while the cap badge altered. I think it was this cap badge that later was the basis for the ‘pineapples’ which appeared on our car doors.

1975–1984: The uniform reverted to navy blue with a light blue shirt and dark blue tie. The identifying numbers on the uniform disappeared and were replaced with a number on the cap badge for all constables and one with 'sergeant' on it for that rank. This uniform was the first to have an identifying patch which contained the words ‘QUEENSLAND POLICE’ and our motto, CONSTANTIA AC COMITATE. Later, short-sleeved shirts were introduced and a shirt designed to be worn without a tie was added to the collection. Several versions of the patch were generated in this time and these were mainly to clarify the words on it.

1984–1985: Allan tells me that in this period the motto on the patch was eliminated while the words ‘QUEENSLAND POLICE’ remained.

1985–1991: The size of the patch was increased and the motto was included in English; that is FIRMNESS WITH COURTESY. There were many versions of this patch so much so that former Senior Sergeant Ross Huth, who was then in the Depot Store, acquired the nick-name, ‘Patch’ through his many visits to the Commissioner’s Office seeking approval for the alterations made mainly for clarity purposes.

1989: It was either late in 1989 following the release of Fitzgerald’s findings or early in 1990, that name tags were introduced for all uniformed personnel. This move was also accompanied by all commissioned officers holding uniformed positions actually wearing uniform. As many will recall, until this time commissioned officers outside Brisbane rarely wore uniforms and those above Superintendent in Brisbane also dusted theirs off mainly for induction ceremonies only.

1991: the badge and patch were changed and the new motto—WITH HONOUR WE SERVE—was included. This major change resulted from a competition conducted by then-Commissioner Noel Newnham and criticism during the Commission of Inquiry that the motto FIRMNESS WITH COURTESY was inappropriate for the Queensland Police Force as it was then called. As I indicated earlier, it was Bob Matheson’s knowledge of Latin that provided the translation.

By the way, I think that New South Wales still has its motto in Latin on its patch. I wonder how many of its officers know what it means in English.

Since retiring in 1999 I have seen many changes to the uniform of Queensland Police Officers.  Hopefully one day someone else will update this article.