Belgium IV
A lot history ... Who are the Blue Knights®?
Our association was born in 1974 in the state of MAINE in the USA, at the initiative of a policeman named Ed GALLANT. The goal is to gather members of the police with the passion of the motorcycle in order to revalue the image of the biker. It should be known that at the time many "bands" raged in the USA as well as in Europe.
The beginnings
At the Black Knight Restaurant in Bangor, Maine, the first meetings that gave birth to the Blue Knights® were held. The first meeting was attended by 8 members: Ed Gallant, Chuck Shuman, Wayne LeBree, Mike Hall, Doug Minor (dec), Joel Rudom (dec), Chuck Gessner (dec), and Bill Robinson (dec). This family-friendly association was going to seduce a number of police bikers and grow to the point of becoming an International Moto Club.
The name "Blue Knights" ®
The association needed an identity. Dave Koman, Chief of the Brewer Police Service, suggested Blue Knights® in connection with a popular TV show by and with George Kennedy on the subject of police. The blue color is not unlike the color usually worn by law enforcement and its representatives.
The badge
Ed Gallant found an old Interstate 95 badge that was stored in the Brewer Police Department locker. The badge was then entrusted to Sergeant John Bryant, who created the coat of arms: A Knight riding his faithful steed whose rear legs end with the winged wheel, emblem worn by the biker officers of the American police. The logo was born and is an integral part of our "colors".
Currency
"Ride with pride", Literally "Roll with Pride" has been the motto of Blue Knights® around the world for over 40 years. It was Chuck Shuman who, on a ride, looking in his rearview mirror, at the sight of the group where everyone was proud and straight was inspired by this motto. So he signed his mails of this phrase "Ride With Pride" from this day and this became our motto. The language used within the Club, between the different chapters is English.