Hook and Irons
The Eagle Has Landed September 08 2012, 2 Comments
When we sat down with Tom Lane to come up with the Hook & Irons symbol, we threw around a bunch of ideas for our version of the 'Nike Swoosh', but nothing ever beat out the eagle--that proud iconic presence that sits atop most of our helmets. After doing some research on the eagle's history, we took some photographs of the eagles on our own helmets and turned them over to Tom.
The origin of the eagle on the modern fire helmet can be traced to around 1825 when an unknown sculptor created a commemorative figure for the grave of a volunteer firefighter. The figure on the grave was that of a firefighter, emerging from flames holding a sleeping child in one hand and a trumpet in the other. The figure wore a helmet with an eagle on it, which soon became part of the helmets worn by firefighters to this day.
Even though the eagle's practicality is often questioned and technology has devised better ways of affixing a firefighters unit designation to their helmet, this is one battle that time and technology has not won--yet. And we love that.
The Hook & Irons eagle was hand-drawn, painstakingly sketched and then inked. Our design was built by hand, embodying everything that is great about the fire service--everything we fear that time and technology might one day change.
Til then, wear it with pride.
