Ashland, Kentucky will become the latest city to add “In God We Trust” decals to its fleet of first responder vehicles after city commissioners unanimously approved the idea.

Commissioner Larry Brown proposed to give the city’s police and fire officials authority to affix the “optional” decals on official government vehicles and offered to pay for them himself in an effort to promote patriotism, he told CNHI News.

“I told (Ashland Police) Chief (Rob) Ratliff there is an option and I would provide them if they wanted,” Brown said.

“I know a lot of people are looking at it as a religious symbol and that’s not necessarily what it’s about,” he said. “It’s a U.S. motto and I told them if they wanted to put that on there, I would pay.”

The News points to neighboring Greenup County, where Sheriff Keith Cooper put the same type of “In God We Trust” decal of all sheriff’s cruisers.

“You can’t trust the stock market, you can’t trust banks, you can’t trust Washington, but you can trust God, you can always trust God,” Cooper told WSAZ in August.

The Kentucky departments are part of a broader movement among law enforcement agencies in Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia and other states to add the motto to vehicles since 2015.

“Last year, Cooper and other law enforcement officials in several communities across the country faced criticism and backlash from taxpayers and citizens who called the addition of the decals a mixing of church and state,” according to the news site.

“Law enforcement officials facing such a response often cite the fact that the motto ‘In God We Trust’ was adopted by the United States 60 years ago and was reaffirmed by Congress in 2011.”

“I’ve had nothing but positive response from across the community, but I’m sure there will probably be some people that are not happy and I appreciate their opinion,” Brown said.

Ratliff, who is set to retire, told WOWK he discussed the decals with the fire chief and they both agreed to put them all of their department vehicles.

“I think that if you go back to the founding of our country, it was based on godly principles,” Ashland firefighter Chris Barnett told the news site. “And there’s too much of it slipping way these days.”

Roane County, West Virginia chief sheriff’s deputy Matt Cooper expressed the same sentiment when his department adopted “In God We Trust” for its fleet of patrol vehicles in February.

“We’re trying to go back to some of the basics and realize what we were founded on as far as our county and our department,” Cooper told WSAZ.

“We want them to feel that they’re at home,” he added. “Roane County has a strong background in our churches and our faith in our communities.”

“We’re willing to fight those fights and stand up for what we believe in,” Cooper said.

In Roane County, the money for the decals came from the sheriff’s department’s vehicle maintenance budget, and cost less than $100. County officials told WSAZ they plan to open up the option of adding the same decals to all county department vehicles in the future.