Stock-based Compensation Stock-based Compensation (Details 3)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013	Sep. 30, 2012
Stock Option Awards
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Risk-free interest rate	0.00%	0.00%	0.30%	0.40%
Expected dividend yield	0.00%	0.00%	1.50%	1.30%
Expected term	4 years 6 months		4 years 4 months	4 years 2 months
Expected volatility	0.00%	0.00%	33.70%	39.70%
Market-based restricted stock unit
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Risk-free interest rate	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Expected dividend yield	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Expected term			2 years 2 months	3 years
Employee Stock
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Risk-free interest rate	0.00%	0.00%	0.10%	0.20%
Expected dividend yield	0.00%	0.00%	1.50%	1.30%
Expected term	6 months	6 months	6 months	6 months
Expected volatility	0.00%	0.00%	25.00%	27.40%
FLIR | Market-based restricted stock unit
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Expected volatility	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
S&P 500 | Market-based restricted stock unit
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Expected volatility	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%