<Ul> <Li> In 2015, police officers in Sussex, England were told by their supervisors to remove a badge from their uniforms with a blue line across a union jack since it was not part of their official uniform . There was a concern that it could be seen as a political statement related to cutbacks in police forces . </Li> <Li> In Chicago, in November 2016, counterprotesters carried the black and white US flag symbol to show support for police after a police shooting of Joshua Beal . The counterprotesters carried the symbol in confrontations with another group of protesters who felt the shooting was unjust and racially motivated . </Li> <Li> The black and white US version of the flag with the Thin Blue Line is seen by many as a desecration of the official US flag but proponents argue that it's a completely different flag . </Li> <Li> In Warwick, New York, the painting of a blue line down a roadway was protested by some citizens as being in opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement . The town has since painted the line red white and blue, the colors of the US flag . </Li> <Li> In Riviera Beach, Florida, a group of police officers flew the thin blue line flags on their personal vehicles . They were ordered by their captain to remove the flags . </Li> <Li> During the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, the thin blue line flag was used by white nationalist groups to symbolize support for police and opposition to the Black Lives Matter movement . </Li> </Ul> <Li> In 2015, police officers in Sussex, England were told by their supervisors to remove a badge from their uniforms with a blue line across a union jack since it was not part of their official uniform . There was a concern that it could be seen as a political statement related to cutbacks in police forces . </Li> <Li> In Chicago, in November 2016, counterprotesters carried the black and white US flag symbol to show support for police after a police shooting of Joshua Beal . The counterprotesters carried the symbol in confrontations with another group of protesters who felt the shooting was unjust and racially motivated . </Li> <Li> The black and white US version of the flag with the Thin Blue Line is seen by many as a desecration of the official US flag but proponents argue that it's a completely different flag . </Li>

When did the thin blue line flag start