Battenburg markings

Battenburg markings or Battenberg markings[a] are a pattern of high-visibility markings developed in the United Kingdom in the 1990s and currently seen on many types of emergency service vehicles in the UK, Crown dependencies, British Overseas Territories and several other European countries including the Czech Republic, Iceland, Sweden, Germany, Romania, Spain, Ireland, and Belgium as well as in Hong Kong and Commonwealth nations including Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Trinidad and Tobago, and more recently, Canada.

They were first developed for traffic patrol cars for United Kingdom police forces; private organisations and civil emergency services have also used them since then.

Unless precautions are taken, pattern markings can have a camouflage effect, concealing a vehicle's outline, particularly in front of a cluttered background.

In the development of Battenburg markings, one of the key goals was to clearly identify vehicles associated with police.

(Although Sillitoe patterns identified vehicles associated with police and other emergency services, they were not highly visible.)

The high-visibility chevrons often used on the rear and front of Battenburg-marked vehicles, "through popular opinion rather than by a scientific process of testing and research", were found ineffective at reducing rear-end collisions.

An agreement was made between the federal government and the communities and regions to implement the same new vehicle markings and uniforms.

Lifeguard Taxicabs in Brussels In Canada, Battenburg markings on law enforcement vehicles are uncommon.

However, in recent decades, Canada has slowly integrated some Battenburg markings on EMS vehicles, particularly in Ontario and Quebec.

Battenburg markings are used on plow trucks for transportation and infrastructure in some parts of Canada, primarily on the back to increase visibility and alert people driving on a highway during poor road conditions that there is a plow truck in use and they must slow down.

[19][20] As of 12 May 2023, the Barrie Police Service has officially adopted half-Battenburg markings on all of their fleets, eliminating stealthy dark navy body-colored vehicles and replacing them with white instead.

[22] A high-visibility Ford Explorer police vehicle with the markings is to be used by the service as part of a pilot project for 24 months.

For example, the Danish Emergency Management Agency have chosen to simply not have any reflective marking on their vehicles.

[36] This rollout was expanded in 2008 with the formation of Regional Support Units (later renamed to the Garda Armed Support Unit), equipped with Battenberg liveried Volvo XC70s with removable red "ARMED SUPPORT UNIT" lettering;[37] this livery was changed in 2016 with the purchase of new Audi Q7 SUVs and BMW 3 Series estates to include permanent lettering and a red stripe running along both sides of the vehicle.

[38][39] Battenburg markings would be rolled out onto most new Garda vehicles (excluding vans) regardless of their role from 2021 onwards.

St John Ambulance Ireland Malta's first emergency vehicles with Battenburg style markings, 11 Fiat Ducatos for Mater Dei Hospital, were delivered between 2012 and 2014.

[44][45] However from 2021, a new livery was introduced for new Civil Protection Department fire appliances in 2021 that retained the yellow/orange and red colour scheme but disposed of the Battenburg pattern.

[55] In Pakistan, the National Highways & Motorways Police use yellow-and-blue Battenburg markings on most of their fleets.

Though many municipal police forces of the Autonomous communities of Spain, such as Castile and León, Catalonia, Galicia and the Basque Country, have adopted standardised liveries, some autonomous communities give their municipal police greater freedom to choose their vehicle liveries.

As a result, municipal police forces of Alcobendas,[56] Alcorcón,[57] Colmenar Viejo and Rivas-Vaciamadrid in the Community of Madrid,[58][59] the city of Seville,[60] Benacazón and Paradas in the Province of Seville,[citation needed] Algeciras in Andalusía,[61] and Barañáin in Navarre[62] have adopted either blue-and-yellow Battenburg-style markings or a livery based on the markings.

Battenburg markings on emergency vehicles are generally uncommon in the United States, though some municipalities have begun using them in recent years.

The design was updated to include black-and-gold Battenburg markings in 2021 to represent the city's official colours.