All Insignia Left Side Position Emblems

That question was posed to me over the weekend with regard to the various BSA position patches and badges of office. Here's the specific question:

I have a lot of the old BSA position badges. Some of them are in the old light green color and some of them are in the tan background that matches the uniform. I also have two District Commissioner badges of office...one of them with a medium blue background and the other with a red background. Does that mean that one's for a Cub Scout District Commissioner and the other for a Boy Scout or Explorer Commissioner?? Finally, I have one patch that has a blue border and the wording "Women's Reserve" on it. What's that for and why does it have a different background color than the rest of the BSA badges of office?? Have I picked up a misprinted or rare patch? Thanks for the help!"

First, let's go backwards in history to about 1960 or so. Back then, each badge of office for a Cub Scout, Boy Scout, or Exploring unit had a "logo" or "emblem" associated with it. For instance, the Boy Scout Scribe emblem had a set of crossed quillpens with the "universal emblem" (the Tenderfoot badge, which is called the "universal emblem" because it is the central item to many of the BSA's official badges and ranks). It looked like this:

The emblem was GREAT...however, you needed a special "decoder book" to fully understand what those crossed quills meant...especially to those outside of the BSA.

When the BSA changed their uniforms in 1972-74, they decided then to "code" and "title" ALL of the badges of position...this would make it easier to distinguish the "leaders" from "the rest" and at the same time, put some order and some sense into the various badges that have been developed for various positions.

The way they decided to "show" what the "owner" of the uniform represent would be by COLOR:

• BORDER COLOR
  
• BACKGROUND COLOR
  
• and the SHOULDER LOOPS
  

So, the Scribe's patch during that time period looked like this:

Today, all of the position badges for Boy Scout and Varsity Scout positions, and eventually all of the positions at the unit level, are on a khahi-tan background and border with a basic design in the color of the unit, using the older colors. Many would say that the badges look alful compared to the older position patches; others would say that the patches are needed to "blend into" the fabric color of the uniform shirt.

These pages will show the older - 70s era - patches and insignia because they are more plentiful and many units and Councils still use them. Either version is official as long as they are worn correctly and reflect current status in the movement.

These pages will also eventually show the current patches and insignia because they are the most common and what units and local Councils should be using.

Settummanque!

This webpage is designed for printing, three-hole punching, and insertion into Your Binder!

Insignia mainpage

Back to The Tree

© 2001 Settummanque!
Designed by Mike Walton

Created with the CoffeeCup HTML Editor