History Main / InsigniaRipOffRitual

* ''Film/AnOfficerAndASpy'', about the Dreyfus Affair, faithfully recreates the formal degradation of Alfred Dreyfus as it was depicted on the first page of the famous issue of the newspaper ''Le Petit Journal''.

* Happened twice to a Skyway Patrol Lieutenant in ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'' who was jealous of Jenny always saving people when he wanted the credit for himself and wanted her shut down. He tried once in "Pajama Party Prankapalooza" due to all the pranks the Crust Cousins made her pull, but Jenny eventually realized she was being used and quickly fixed everything. The jealous lieutenant's boss wasn't convinced and he demoted him to private. Another time, he tried in "A Spoonful of Mayhem", even having Dr. Wakeman arrested but by the end of that episode, he only succeeded in being fired, and was ordered to turn in his badge, helmet and uniform[[spoiler:, minus the pants]].

* This is actually a traditional element of military punishment. A famous engraving shows "The Degradation of Dreyfus": The hapless Captain Alfred Dreyfus (of the "Dreyfus Affair" that fiercely divided France in the 1890s and 1900s), framed and convicted for espionage, a charge that was based on pretty much nothing but his Jewish heritage, having his insignia stripped from his uniform and his sword broken over a knee before being sent off to Devil's Island. The French version (which Dreyfus endured) was often more brutal than other nations', including having one's medals thrown on the ground, sword snapped in half, and a slap to each cheek as a cherry on the crap sundae. The now-defrocked officer must stand at strict attention throughout, and have the ordeal witnessed by his entire unit. Of course, Dreyfus was eventually found innocent (though the actual perpetrator of the crime, Major Ferdinand Esterhazy, was never officially prosecuted), rehabilitated and [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/DREYFUS_réhab.jpg regained his uniform]] [[note]] Dreyfus is to the right of the photo, talking with General Gillain [[/note]], eventually being reinstated as an artillery major in time for [=WW1=] and becoming a colonel at the war's end.

* The UsefulNotes/BritishInvasionsOfTheRioDeLaPlata was commanded by Lieutenant-General John Whitelocke. After Whitelocke initially gained the upper hand in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, he let the Spanish retreat and demanded the city's surrender, giving the Spanish '''[[EpicFail three days]]''' to prepare the city's defenses. When he finally attacked, he [[TooDumbToLive marched his troops in without the protection of his artillery]]. Finally, he was confounded by urban warfare, particularly when the locals dumped everything from boiling water to scalding cooking oil on his troops. Whitelocke eventually negotiated a surrender and returned to Britain. The British were so humiliated at the fiasco that Whitelocke was promptly court-martialed, cashiered and deemed "totally unfit to serve His Majesty in any military capacity whatsoever."

*** In [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E16InterArmaEnimSilentLeges Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges]] Bashir and Ross remove their [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Combadge combadges]] for an ‘off the record’ discussion about Section 31. Bashir quotes Creator/{{Cicero}} (also the episode title) when he compares the United Federation of Planets to UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar and UsefulNotes/{{Rome}}.

*** In [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E16InterArmaEnimSilentLeges Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges]] Bashir and Ross remove their [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Combadge combadges]] for an ‘off the record’ discussion about Section 31. Bashir quotes UsefulNotes/{{Cicero}} when he compares the United Federation of Planets to UsefulNotes/{{Caesar}} and UsefulNotes/{{Rome}}.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': In Creator/DanAbnett's Literature/GauntsGhosts novels, Gaunt does this to [[spoiler:General Sturm]]. It features, and is inverted in ''Necropolis'', when [[spoiler:Gaunt removes the blowhard, glory-hungry Commissar Kowle's rank insignia, but when Kowle sacrifices a grenade bandoleer and his arms to destroy a Chaos beast, Gaunt also restores them]].

** [[spoiler: After Daenerys [[FallenHero goes utterly insane]] and burns down King's Landing in the penultimate episode, Tyrion confronts her at the start of the final episode and tears off his Hand pin, tossing it aside.]]

** At the end of ''ComicBook/GothamCentral'', when her partner is murdered by [[DirtyCop Jim Corrigan]], Renee Montoya is frustrated and enraged when he manages to get off scot-free [[BadCopIncompetentCop after the evidence is tampered with]]. She breaks into his apartment prepared to murder him [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim but can not bring herself to go through with it]]. [[DespairEventHorizon Disgusted with herself and the entire police force]], Renee ended the series dropping her badge and gun on Captain Maggie Sawyer's desk as she quits the department.

* This is actually a traditional element of military punishment. A famous engraving shows "The Degradation of Dreyfus": The hapless Captain Alfred Dreyfus (of the "Dreyfus Affair" that fiercely divided France in the 1890s and 1900s), framed and convicted for espionage, a charge that was based on pretty much nothing but his Jewish heritage, having his insignia stripped from his uniform and his sword broken before being sent off to Devil's Island. The French version (which Dreyfus endured) was often more brutal than other nations', including having one's medals thrown on the ground, sword snapped in half, and a slap to each cheek as a cherry on the crap sundae. The now-defrocked officer must stand at strict attention throughout, and have the ordeal witnessed by his entire unit. Of course, Dreyfus was eventually found innocent (though the actual perpetrator of the crime, Major Ferdinand Esterhazy, was never officially prosecuted), rehabilitated and [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/DREYFUS_réhab.jpg regained his uniform]] [[note]] Dreyfus is to the right of the photo, talking with General Gillain [[/note]], eventually being reinstated as an artillery major in time for [=WW1=] and becoming a colonel at the war's end.

* ''Film/LooneyTunesBackInAction'' plays with this trope. Early on, Brendan Fraser's character gets fired and undergoes the ritual, having his security guard insignia torn off of his shirt. And then, he's ordered to turn in the shirt as well.

At the climax, Bratton and a bunch of uniforms went up to the 30th and arrested many of the officers and detectives involved after their shift, as they were doing paperwork at their desks. They then [[PerpWalk Perp Walked]] the uniformed and now-cuffed officers in front of the waiting media outside.[[note]]Something very rarely done; the NYPD tries hard to avoid doing to ''any'' cop who gets arrested[[/note]]. Bratton then tore the badges off the arrested officers and threw them in a trash can, telling reporters that this was what they had done symbolically through their actions.

*** In [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS07E16InterArmaEnimSilentLeges Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges]] Bashir and Ross remove their [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Combadge combadges]] for an ‘off the record’ discussion about Section 31. Bashir quotes [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Cicero Cicero]] when he compares the United Federation of Planets to [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Caesar Caesar]] and UsefulNotes/{{Rome}}.

*** In [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Inter_Arma_Enim_Silent_Leges_(episode) Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges]] Bashir and Ross remove their [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Combadge combadges]] for an ‘off the record’ discussion about Section 31. Bashir quotes [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Cicero Cicero]] when he compares the United Federation of Planets to [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Caesar Caesar]] and [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Rome Rome.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', when a lazy gluttonous cop was let go, he is told to turn in his badge, his radio and... his [[DonutMessWithACop donut]]. [[SkewedPriorities But not his gun]].

* Happened twice to a Skyway Patrol Lieutenant in ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'' who was jealous of Jenny always saving people when he wanted the credit for himself and wanted her shut down. He tried once in "Pajama Party Prankapalooza" due to all the pranks the Crust Cousins made her pull, but Jenny eventually realized she was being used and quickly fixed everything. The jealous lieutenant's boss wasn't convinced and he demoted him to private. Another time, he tried in "A Spoonful of Mayhem", even having Dr. Wakeman arrested but by the end of that episode, he only succeeded in being fired, and had to turn in his badge and helmet[[spoiler:, but not his pants]].

* Happened twice to a Skyway Patrol Lieutenant in ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'' who was jealous of Jenny always saving people when he wanted the credit for himself and wanted her shut down. He tried once in "Pajama Party Prankapalooza" due to all the pranks the Crust Cousins made her pull, but Jenny fixed everything and he was demoted to private. Another time, he tried in "A Spoonful of Mayhem", even having Dr. Wakeman arrested but by the end of that episode, he only succeeded in being fired, and had to turn in his badge and helmet[[spoiler:, but not his pants]].

'''Jerry:''' You know, this is your coat.\\

See also TurnInYourBadge. Also see SmashTheSymbol (to which this is a subtrope), AllegianceAffirmation, and ShamefulStrip (similarly humiliating and [[UpToEleven which goes much further]]). Contrast EarnedStripes.

* Taken UpToEleven by William Bratton when he was New York City's police commissioner in 1994. The NYPD's internal-affairs squad had been investigating corruption at the 30th Precinct in Harlem, where officers had been staging fake raids that were actually just shakedowns of dealers, taking the drugs and then selling them back to addicts at half street price from the station house. The investigation went to the point of getting a cadet from the police academy to be assigned to the 30th and work for IAD as a mole.\\

** [[spoiler: After Daenerys [[FallenHero goes utterly insane]] and burns down King's Landing, Tyrion confronts her and tears off his Hand pin, tossing it aside.]]

** After Ed confronts Fuhrer King Bradley [[spoiler:(who is really the Homunculus Wrath)]] about the true nature of the State Alchemist program as a way to [[spoiler:recruit human sacrifices]], he tosses in his state alchemist pocket watch and declares his resignation. Unfortunately, Wrath manages to threaten him into taking it back.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', after learning that Arlong had Nezumi steal all the money she worked for eight years to earn, Nami begins stabbing the Arlong Pirates tattoo on her arm in anger; fortunately, she gets a second -and different- tattoo after Arlong's defeat. In [[{{Filler}} episode 138]], Captain Moore strips the insignia off Minchy's uniform after he learns Minchy was trying to steal Zenny's treasure behind his back. In the fourth movie, Gasparde has the Marine emblem crossed out on his ship.

* Done to Tristan when he is caught with Isolde in the 2016 Met Opera production of Wagner's ''Tristan Und Isolde''.

* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', upon being [[TheExile exiled from the Jedi Order]] for following [[TheParagonAlwaysRebels Darth Revan]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist to war]] against their wishes, the PlayerCharacter is told by the Jedi Council to [[TurnInYourBadge turn in their lightsaber]]. They respond by defiantly stabbing it into a stone plinth in the center of the chamber before storming out.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': You don't actually get to see them rip the insignia off, but when you meet ex-Cerberus agents Miranda and Jacob again, they're wearing outfits that are identical to their clothes in ''2'' minus the Cerberus symbols; along with signifying that the two were utterly ''done'' with Cerberus, it also served a practical purpose, since Cerberus was currently in the process of killing anyone who wasn't firmly on their side at the time, so it would be a very ''bad'' idea to run around with their emblem on your uniform. Averted for a lot of Cerberus defectors in the mission where you meet Jacob again, however, who've been too busy running for their lives to buy a wardrobe that doesn't have a Cerberus hexagon on both shoulders.
* ''VideoGame/HitmanAbsolution'': when Agent 47 resigns from [[MurderInc the ICA]] in the first act, he takes a razor blade and cuts his barcode tattoo open, and sports a bandage over it for the rest of the game.
* ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'': The Nomad Lifepath starts with [[PlayerCharacter V]] tearing the Bakkers insignia off of their jacket and discarding it, reflecting their parting ways with the Bakkers clan after they fell apart and were absorbed into the Snake Nation.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' episode "Hermit Ren", after Ren is kicked out of the [[WeirdTradeUnion Hermit's Union]] for inventing imaginary friends, he gets his ''beard'' torn off as he's drummed out.

* Parodied multiple times in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.
** In "Homer the Great", when Homer was kicked out of the Stonecutters for violating their sacred parchment, he had to turn in his robes and Stonecutter underwear, then he was ordered to walk home naked, chained to the "Stone of Shame". {{Subverted}} when they see Homer has the Stonecutter symbol on his rear, marking him as TheChosenOne. They then chain him to the much larger and heavier Stone of Triumph.
** In "The Cartridge Family", when Homer gets kick out of the Springfield's NRA chapter, he has his membership card ripped up and is told to turn in his ''tattoo'', which Moe offered to remove with a cheese grater (to Moe's disappointment, Homer never got the tattoo).
** In "Homer and Apu", when Apu was fired from the Kwik-E-Mart, his various advertising badges were taken and he was ordered to turn in his pricing gun and his back-up pricing gun (which he kept in a holster on his ankle).

* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' does this a lot.
** In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', Sentinel Prime tears Wasp's Autobot insignia off after arresting him for espionage.
** Skyfire does this in the ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'' episode "Fire in the Sky" when he rips off his Decepticon insignia before proclaiming himself an Autobot.
** ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'': Waspinator, fed up at being blown up all the time and essentially being the eternal ChewToy, tears off his insignia near the end of a long rant. In keeping with his ButtMonkey status, he is blown up just before he finishes his speech.
* Spoofed in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/DudleyDoRight'', in which Dudley is sent undercover to foil yet another Snidely Whiplash scheme. Inspector Fenwick's scheme requires him to be expelled from the Mounties, but every evil plan Dudley dreams up [[CantGetInTroubleForNuthin turns out to be fortuitously helpful]] -- for example, he dynamites a dam, but his actions actually relieve a severe drought further downstream. He is finally dismissed for [[FelonyMisdemeanor eating his peas with his dinner knife]], which results in him being stripped to his [[GoofyPrintUnderwear heart-print boxers]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/ExoSquad'', Thrax is demoted and has his insignia ripped off for not finishing off an Exofleet pilot during the retreat from Mercury.
* Played for laughs in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' when Tom Tucker is fired and told to turn in his moustache.

* Done in the [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney war short]] "Home Defense"; after WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck sees through the boys' ruse of an attack, he rips off their chevrons and destroys their (wooden) swords. Then, when he (again falsely) believes he's under attack (and makes sure that it wasn't the boys this time), he sews the chevrons back on and gives them new swords. Near the end, as Donald orders the boys' to fire the cannon, not knowing it's pointing straight at him, one of the boys, knowing the inevitable, rips off his chevron himself before firing.

* In an ImagineSpot on ''WesternAnimation/{{Doug}}'', Mr. Dink removes all of Doug's Bluff Scout badges and yanks his hat down to his neck.
* ''WesternAnimation/TazMania'': Happens to an elderly Francis X. Bushlad when it is discovered that he never completed his manhood ritual.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', [[SpinOffspring Lin Beifong]] does this when she's using Metalbending to get dressed, to show that she is no longer affiliated with the police force.
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'':
** Both variants are played in "Wonderbolts Academy". Rainbow Dash yanks off her own badge, while Spitfire yanks off Lightning Dust's badge.
** In the episode "Rarity Investigates", [[spoiler:Spitfire does this to Wind Rider after Rarity and Rainbow Dash reveal that Wind Rider had framed Rainbow Dash for a crime she didn't commit.]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', an O.W.C.A. ceremony directed by Major Monogram ends in disaster, so Colonel Contraction fires him and strips off one of his badges. He then rips off Monogram's ''mustache'', and places it on Carl, who has been promoted.
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', when a lazy gluttonous cop was let go, he is told to turn in his badge, his radio and... his [[DonutMessWithACop donut]]. [[SkewedPriorities But not his gun]].
* ''WesternAnimation/FinalSpace'': In episode 5, after seeing with her own eyes that the Infinity Guard have become corrupt, and barely stopping them from futher tearing a hole into Final Space, Quinn can be seen removing the Infinity Guard insignia from her uniform as a sign that she wants to make a fresh start.
* ''WesternAnimation/KipoAndTheAgeOfWonderbeasts'': When Jamack's thrown out of the Mod Frogs for failing to capture Kipo, his tie is cut in half.
* ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'': Mail carrier Herman Post gets this upon his firing as his boss rips off his bag, jacket buttons, tie and hat.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' episode "Hollow Mind", [[spoiler:Hunter tears off his cloak in the midst of a panic attack after learning the truth about Belos and realizing that the symbol of the previous Golden Guard (that he had painstakingly stitched on it and spent all of "Any Sport in a Storm" trying to prove he was worthy of wearing) represents nothing but a pack of lies.]]

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* At the end of the ''Manga/SoulEater'' manga, [[spoiler:Maka, Soul, Black Star, and Tsubaki]] put on the uniforms they wore at the beginning of the series because [[spoiler:they are dissociating themselves with Spartoi.]]
* In a flashback of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Itachi throws a kunai at an Uchiha clan crest on a wall before denouncing the clan at one point after he [[spoiler:kills Shisui]] and before his massacre. Prominently, the Akatsuki members with visible headbands -like him- and Sasuke -[[spoiler:who may or may not count]]- have slashes through the the emblem of the village to which they formerly swore allegiance.
** Later on, in ''Manga/{{Boruto}}'', [[spoiler:when Boruto is caught cheating during the chunin exam, Naruto removes his headband in front of the entire audience (including his mother and sister). In essence, Boruto's own father was publicly telling him that he was a disgrace as a shinobi. Yikes.]]

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', after learning that Arlong had Nezumi steal all the money she worked for eight years to earn, Nami begins stabbing the Arlong Pirates tattoo on her arm in anger; fortunately, she gets a second -and different- tattoo after Arlong's defeat. In [[{{Filler}} episode 138]], Captain Moore strips the insignia off Minchy's uniform after he learns Minchy was trying to steal Zenny's treasure behind his back. In the fourth movie, Gasparde has the Marine emblem crossed out on his ship.

* After Ryuhou's HeelFaceTurn in ''Anime/{{Scryed}}'', Mimori brings him a new [=HOLY=] uniform, which he refuses to wear. She insists that the uniform doesn't stand for [=HOLY=] itself, but rather Ryuhou's convictions and beliefs, so he puts it on and rips off the [=HOLY=] symbol.

* Parodied in a 1970s ''Magazine/{{MAD}}'' cartoon by Don Martin. An army officer rips off his subordinate's insignia and epaulets, unsheathes the subordinate's sword, hoists his knee in the air to snap it in half...and accidentally amputates his own lower leg.

* ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'':
** At the end of ''ComicBook/GothamCentral'', when her partner is murdered by [[DirtyCop Jim Corrigan]], Renee Montoya is frustrated and enraged when he manages to get off scot-free [[BadCopIncompetentCop after the evidence is tampered with]]. She breaks into his apartment prepared to murder him [[IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim but can not bring herself to go through with it]]. [[DespairEventHorizon Disgusted with herself and the entire police force]], Renee ended the series dropping her badge and gun on Captain Maggie Sawyer's desk as she quits the department.
** ComicBook/{{Batgirl}} does this to herself following [[spoiler:[[ComicBook/Batgirl2011 supposedly killing her brother, James, Jr.]] He's alive in another comic]]. When she goes to comfort Batman following [[spoiler:the death of Damian Wayne]], Bruce calls her out on her hypocrisy of running around in costume yet not wearing the emblem of the Bat.
** ''ComicBook/DetectiveComicsRebirth'': Orphan tears off the Bat shield on Batwoman's costume in anger when she kills Clayface, telling her that it means they do not kill.

* ''ComicBook/BuckyOHareAndTheToadWars'': In the episode "The Warriors", the Toad Air Marshall is stripped of his medals and demoted for his constant failures, with Frix and Frax put in charge. When they prove to be even more incompetent, Komplex reinstates the Air Marshall.
* In the climax of ''ComicBook/TheReturnOfBarryAllen'' storyline in ''Franchise/TheFlash'', Jay Garrick rips off the front of the costume (symbol included) of the imposter Barry Allen while the latter keeps furiously ranting that there can only be one Flash. The rip only made the imposter even angrier.
* In the final issue of ''ComicBook/CombatKellyAndHisDeadlyDozen'', Kelly returns from a mission where he and Laurie were the only survivors (and Laurie had been permanently crippled). He tears his corporal's stripes off his uniform and throws them down on Captain Sawyer's desk, stating that he would rather be sent back to prison than undertake another mission for the US Army.
* Following the end of ''ComicBook/CivilWar'' and the repeal of the Superhuman Registration Act, Steve Rogers requests that Abigail Boylen, AKA Cloud Nine, become a trainer at the Avengers Academy. Having gone through a massive BreakTheCutie session where Iron Man, War Machine, and Black Widow made her into an assassin, Abigail's response upon learning that she's no longer legally bound to any government organization is to tear up her registration card, throw her old costume at Rogers' feet, and fly away from Avengers Tower as fast as she can.

* Based on the ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' example above, someone made [[http://i.imgur.com/zF2iF2i.jpg a team shot of Team Secret]], a relatively new ''VideoGame/Dota2'' professional team. The joke being, their members were previously members of other teams, and like the Akatsuki, they had their previous team logo scratched off. [[note]]From left to right: Fly, n0tail, Kuroky, Puppey, S4, RTZ, Zai, Misery[[/note]]
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13263612/22/Yule-Ball-Drama Yule Ball Drama]]'' when [=McGonagall=] expels Ron and Ginny from Hogwarts she rips the Gryffindor and Hogwarts crests off their school robes.

* A form of Rip-off the Insignia is 'Rip Up the Check' where a person who took tainted money (or was offered it) rips up the check to show his refusal to accept it. This was done in the ''Lassie'' movie where the grandfather threw the pieces of a check back to Lassie's 'real' owner when he realized that his grandson was hurt after Lassie was taken away.

* A Jerry Lewis movie (''Sadsack'') has two career soldiers (a corporal and a private) mentoring the eponymous character (played by Lewis). After being marched back to the barracks by a platoon of WAC soldiers the three are called in front of the unit's First Sergeant. The First Sergeant just stares, so the corporal tears one stripe off his uniform and the private tears the only stripe off his uniform. Lewis reaches for his sleeve, finds nothing, and says, "I guess I'll have to owe you one."

* Subverted in ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' with the above quote. Jerry is quick to remind Newman that [[VandalismBackfire he's wearing Newman's uniform]].
* A comedic example occurs in an episode of ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' where TV's Frank gets fired by Dr. Forrester. Not only does Dr. Forrester rip off Frank's "Deep 13" badge, but his iconic forehead curl as well.
* ''Franchise/StarTrek'': Happens at least OnceASeason in most series. Since combadges double as tracking devices in the Star Trek universe, this is sometimes as pragmatic as it is idealistic.
** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
*** Worf in has been known to solemnly and slowly remove his combadge and place it on a table when he has to do something more Klingon than Federation, or when he has a TenMinuteRetirement.
*** Although there is no insignia ripping, this is the idea behind Worf's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c2etjMl3WM "discommendation"]] ceremony.
*** Worf was, at one point, told not to wear Klingon emblems such as the family crest on his baldric during the trial.
*** This ceremony was the result of Quark maneuvering a corrupt Klingon into getting himself discommendated on the spot.
** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'':
*** In one episode Chief O'Brien was temporarily and against his will put on medical suspension; as he took the turbolift away from Ops, he tore off his combadge and threw it at the ground. Less dramatic, but even more powerful in its way.
*** ''Deep Space Nine'', being DarkerAndEdgier, had a number of incidents where characters [[IDidWhatIHadToDo Do What They Have to Do]], but don't want to disgrace the ideals of Starfleet (and/or don't want to be tracked), so they pull off their combadges to indicate that they are no longer acting as Starfleet officers.
*** In "Paradise Lost" Sisko walks into the office of the Admiral who planned a military coup (and was also Sisko's former captain), yanks the combadge off at phaserpoint, and says that he has come to ask the Admiral for his "resignation". When the coup is stopped, the Admiral finishes the job by laying his rank bars on the table. Again, as combadges are both communicators and tracking devices, and Sisko was essentially holding Layton hostage, this was as much pragmatic as it was symbolic.
*** In [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Inter_Arma_Enim_Silent_Leges_(episode) Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges]] Bashir and Ross remove their [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Combadge combadges]] for an ‘off the record’ discussion about Section 31. Bashir quotes [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Cicero Cicero]] when he compares the United Federation of Planets to [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Caesar Caesar]] and [[http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Rome Rome.]]
** ''[[Series/StarTrekVoyager Voyager]]'':
*** The Kazons "confiscated" the crew's combadges when they stole their ship.
*** Janeway removed one of Paris's pips when he violated orders and she busted him down to Ensign in "Thirty Days".
*** In "Q2", when Q Junior is made a human without any of his powers, Captain Janeway removes the captain's pips from his uniform.
*** At the end of "Equinox", though she's not seen actually tearing anything off, Janeway is seen marching back and forth in front of the survivors of the ''Equinox'' crew, informing them they've been stripped of rank for their actions, and will continue as such until she determines otherwise.
* An old episode of British cop show ''Series/DixonOfDockGreen'' saw Dixon collaring a corrupt colleague, demanding that the corrupt copper remove his uniform (jacket only -- this is a family show) so that Dixon could arrest him.

* ''Series/DansUneGalaxiePresDeChezVous'' subverts this trope when the captain demotes his [[TheStarscream traitorous second-in-command, named Brad]] by ripping off his rank badge on each shoulder of his jacket... leaving gaping holes through which he can see that there are similar badges on Brad's undershirt. The captain then orders him to remove his jacket so he can rip those off too... Only to see through the left-over holes that Brad has a third set of insignias ''glued'' to his skin. The captain orders him to remove his shirt and rips those off too.
* Majorly spoofed in an episode of ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' where Al became a security guard at his old high school, only to have everything that wasn't nailed down was stolen on his shift. The next scene after this shows the [[MiniatureSeniorCitizens tiny gray haired principal]] doing this ritual to Al's uniform, complete with the theme from ''Branded'' mentioned earlier playing in the background. Judging by her reaction to the smell when she rips off part of his shirt insignia, she probably wished she'd gone a more orthodox route in firing him.
* Happens a lot on ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}''. Adama alone has done it multiple times.
* Lampshaded in the "Abyssinia, Henry" episode of ''Series/{{MASH}}''. As Henry Blake is set to go home the following day, in grand solemn "ceremony" while Henry is celebrating at Rosie's Bar with Hawkeye, Trapper John, and Radar, Trapper rips the flaps off Henry's shirt pockets while pronouncing him "''Mister'' Doctor Henry Blake", and they present Henry with a new (civilian) suit. It should be noted that none of his actual military insignia was removed in this scene; Hawkeye and Trapper just ripped the shirt itself.
* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': Sheldon tries to do this when he steps down from his self-appointed position of captain of the Physics Department paintball team, but because he's weak and he sewed it on too perfectly, it stayed.
-->'''Sheldon:''' What I lack in leadership, apparently, I more than make up for in sewing.
* A sketch on ''Series/TheDaveAllenShow'' featured a male officer removing a female officer's hat, then ripping off her epaulettes, then her brass buttons, then her blouse...
* Inverted on ''Series/StargateSG1''. When the team got back together at the beginning of season nine, Mitchell put all of their patches ''back on''.

* ''Series/StarskyAndHutch'': in the first part of "Targets Without A Badge", our burned-out heroes decide to quit the police force after the death of a witness they were protecting; this leads to a dramatic freeze-frame shot of them throwing their badges into the ocean.
* The Western episode of ''Series/ThePrisoner1967'', "Living in Harmony", had a SpecialEditionTitle in which Number Six is a sheriff throwing down his badge, instead of a secret agent throwing down a letter of resignation.
* Happens to Corporal Agarn when he is stripped of his rank in the ''Series/FTroop'' episode "The Day They Shot Agarn".
* In the ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'' episode "Don't Shoot, Arashi!", Captain Mura tears the Science Patrol's shooting-star pin (which doubles as a communicator) off Arashi's tunic after the latter disobeys orders by opening fire indiscriminately when a monster attacks a science museum where there are a lot of children present. [[spoiler:Arashi redeems himself, with help from Hayata/Ultraman, and Mura reinstates him at the end of the episode.]]

* In the series finale of ''Series/{{Poirot}}'' ("Literature/{{Curtain}}"), [[spoiler:Literature/HerculePoirot's removal of his (fake) moustache for the disguise prior to murdering Stephen Norton in a VigilanteExecution verges on this.]]
* ''Series/{{Taxi}}'': In "Bobby's Big Break", after finding out that his second appearance on a soap opera will continue after his initial two-episode appearances, Bobby is confident that it'll be a regular role and tears up his taxi drivers license. [[spoiler: His character is soon killed off, and Bobby fears coming back to Louie, who knew he'd be coming back.]]
* ''Series/{{Nuremberg}}'': When the Nazis are taken to Nuremberg for the war crimes trial, the generals among the captured men appeal to the allied servicemen on the basis of soldier's honor. The allied commander slash jailer walks up and rips off the epaulettes on their shoulders.
-->Now you're no longer soldiers. You are all criminals!
* In an episode of ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'' where Walker beats the crap out of a corrupt racist sheriff of a small town. After curbstomping his ass, Walker rips off the sheriff badge from the guy's chest.

* In a ''Series/TheCarolBurnettShow'' skit, TimConway's commanding officer tries to do this to HarveyKorman's soldier, but his own uniform comes apart instead.

* In ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman'' episode "The Washington Affair" ([=S3E7=]), Sully, who has been beforehand sentenced to be ShotAtDawn for desertion, see his sword broken and his epaulettes torn off in front of him.
* ''Series/TheBarrier'': In the finale, several policemen who no longer wish to serve the government are seen taking the New Spain triskelion off their uniforms.

* At the end of the ''Manga/SoulEater'' manga, [[spoiler: Maka, Soul, Black Star, and Tsubaki]] put on the uniforms they wore at the beginning of the series because [[spoiler:they are dissociating themselves with Spartoi.]]
* In a flashback of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Itachi throws a kunai at an Uchiha clan crest on a wall before denouncing the clan at one point after he [[spoiler:kills Shisui]] and before his massacre. The Akatsuki members with visible headbands and Sasuke [[spoiler:who may or may not count]], have slashes through the the emblem of the village to which they formerly swore allegiance.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', after learning that Arlong had Nezumi steal all the money she worked for eight years to earn, Nami begins stabbing the Arlong Pirates tattoo on her arm in anger; fortunately, she gets a second tattoo after Arlong's defeat. In episode 138, Captain Moore strips the insignia off Minchy's uniform after he learns Minchy was trying to steal Zenny's treasure behind his back. In the fourth movie, Gasparde has the Marine emblem crossed out on his ship.