Year Pins & How to Wear 'em! (UPDATED)
(From Scouts-L youth programs mailing list)
Mike Walton
I have received a LOT of personal email over the weekend addressing the issue of the youth service stars and the adult service star. I'm posting this information this afternoon to my website so that folks in the future can take a look and see the different colors OFFICIALLY used and the way that they should be obtained and worn.
Additionally, this page contains some updated information about the wearing of the Tiger Cub Scout year pin.
Here's some basic rules concerning them:
Hi Amy!
You wrote and asked me:
Mike - excellent page about service stars. My question that I can not find in writing anywhere is how many service stars are allowed.
You're right, Amy...I'll fix that in a few minutes!! Thanks!
Some have heard - only one star at a time and other heard - the highest rank per level (cubs, scouts, varsity, explorer & adults)
Not the "highest rank," Amy, but the "highest year in each program" (Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, Varsity Scouting, Venturing or the old Exploring program, and adult service). Each program has a color backing corresponding to that program and the youth or adult wears the HIGHEST TENURED YEARPIN in that program.
One of the axioms of Scouting uniforming and insignia policies is that "Scouts and Scouters wear insignia and uniforming representing their current status in the movement and their current status in the program they are a part of."
For instance, a Cub Scout who have earned a one-year service star, wears a one year service star with a yellow backing. When that Cub Scout earns a two-year service star, he REPLACES the one-year pin with the two year pin. He does NOT wear both stars. Same for three, four and five year pins...they are replaced with the current pin representing "the current status of the individual."
A Boy Scout who was a Cub Scout for five years wears a five year Cub Scout year pin on his Boy Scout uniform. When he earns a year pin as a Boy Scout, he wears a one-year pin with the appropriate backing for Boy Scouting. When that Boy Scout earns a two-year service star, he REPLACES the one-year pin with the two year pin.
In this case, he DOES wear two stars -- one representing his Cub Scouting experience and the other representing his Boy Scouting experience.
The same goes for those involved in Varsity Scouting, Venturing, and service as an adult (volunteer or professional).
*The Service star program is a UNIT PROGRAM. There are no records concerning how many service stars you've received kept at the National nor local Council levels. HOWEVER, registration data IS kept at both locations for the various Veteran Awards starting with the ten-year Veteran's card and pin awarded by the local Council and going upwards from there.
*There's only SIX OFFICIAL BSA service star backings:
- - Orange for Tiger Cub YOUTH **see note below**
- - Yellow for Cub Scout YOUTH
- - Green for Boy Scout YOUTH
- - Brown for Varsity Scout YOUTH
- - Red for Exploring/Career Awareness Exploring or Venturing/Sea Scouting YOUTH
- - Light Blue for ALL ADULT service, REGARDLESS OF PROGRAM (either as a volunteer or professional)
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The colors correspond to the program in which they have been associated with; green has been used for Boy Scouting since the program started, which is why that instead of red (for Exploring/Venturing) has been chosen for Boy Scouting. Yellow, and not light blue, is used for Cub Scouting because of the piping. Light blue is traditionally associated with the local Council (the Council flag is lighter blue).
**NOTE ON TIGER CUB YEAR PINS**: The BSA has informed local Councils that starting with the 2001 program year, Tiger Cub Scouting will be fully integrated into the Cub Scouting program and will no longer be a stand-alone program. As such, some Councils have already started the transition THIS YEAR (2000) to get ahead of the game, so to speak. This presents a slight problem with awarding the year pin for Tiger Cub Scouts. While your Pack is free to award the tenure stars any way they feel (see comments above), here's the RECOMMENDED WAY to accommodate this:
If your Council has chosen to WAIT until August 2001 (the actual date of the consolidation of the Tiger Cub program with the Cub Scout program), then you may continue to award the one year service star (plain or with the number 1 in it, as seen below) with the ORANGE backing. Subsequent year pins are with the YELLOW backing as the person will be a Cub Scout and starts with the ONE year pin (so that a Cub Scout starting his second year should wear two one-year pins: one with an ORANGE backing representing his first year as a Tiger Cub Scout and a one year pin with a YELLOW backing representing his first year as a Cub Scout). Subsequent years he will replace the one year pin with the yellow backing with the two, the three and the four year pin.
If your Council has chosen to "transition" to Tiger Cubs wearing the Cub Scout uniform, then they are NOT CONSIDERED "Tiger Cubs" ONLY for the purpose of the year pin. After their first year in Cub Scouting (which includes Tiger Cubs in this case), they wear the year pin with a YELLOW backing and in subsequent years the one year pin is replaced with the two, the three, the four, and now the five year pin...so now Cub Scouting in those "transition" Councils (and eventually ALL local Councils!) will be a five-year program.
Finally, adults and Scouts/Venturers whom were Tiger Cubs as a youth have the PERSONAL OPTION of either wearing the single year pin with the orange backing; a single year pin with the total number of years spent as a Cub Scout (to include the one year spent as a Tiger Cub Scout); or as listed below, a consolidated total youth and adult tenure pin with the total years registered as a BSA member or volunteer/professional with a light blue backing. Even though the Tiger Cub program is going away, the backings will continue to be available for the next ten years through the BSA's Supply Division.
*ADULTS WEAR ADULT AWARDS AND YOUTH WEAR YOUTH AWARDS with some exceptions. This means that adults needs to wear the adult backing (light blue) with their service star if they have NO youth service; if they did participate in Scouting as a youth, they wear the HIGHEST youth service star for each level of the program that they have participated in.
This means that if you've served as a Tiger Cub leader and later as a Cub Scout leader for three years, you would wear ONLY a four year pin with a light blue backing...NOT pins with either orange nor yellow backings, because those are ONLY for youth members.
Look at this as the same thing behind the wearing of the youth Religious emblem knot by those adults that have earned a religious emblem(s) as a youth member.
*SOME COUNCILS MAY LET FORMER GIRL SCOUT LEADERS WEAR THEIR SERVICE STARS WITH THE BSA UNIFORM. Please check with your local Council Executive for guidance. Some will allow former Girl Scouters to wear their service stars (which is of a different design and color backing than the Boy Scout service stars, so there's no confusion there) while others believe that those items belong onto the Girl Scouting uniforms. Whatever the local Council Exec says, goes, because it's THEIR call to make. Not yours.
*SERVICE STARS ARE CALCULATED BASED ON REGISTRATION INFORMATION. That's the reason why they are called "service stars". They are not based on "graduation" or "movement" from one program element to another (from Wolf to Bear, for instance) nor from program to program (from Cub Scouting to Boy Scouting, for instance). Each period of service starts with the date of registration (which is why the capturing of that information is important by the UNIT) and goes for a one-year period to the following year.
(there is some consenus on the fact that since this entire thing is up to the unit to present, that those Cubs and Scouts that "advanced early than the time period" (for instance, earned the Arrow of Light two months before the end of their fourth year as a Cub Scout; or has six years and eleven months' tenure as a Boy Scout at age 18) to be presented and to wear the service star for the following year. That's a UNIT'S CALL)
*EITHER THE "NO NUMBER" or the "NUMBERED" SERVICE STAR MAY BE USED AT THE INDIVIDUAL'S OPTION. The original service stars were unnumbered, and required the wearer to wear multiple stars to combine and represent the lenght of service. In 1971, the BSA went to using service stars with numbers in the center to represent the year of service and to reduce the amount of pins worn on the field uniform. Either is acceptable; it's the backing and the number that matters more than anything.
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Ev Holm reminded me that I've left out one part of the Service Star guidelines:
Saw you post on Scouts-l. Good explanation. But I think you missed one of the adult options (sorry I don't have my Insignia Guide next to me) where an adult has YES, the option to wear the appropriate color backgrounds for their youth service. But they also have the option to combine ALL adult and youth service and wear ONLY the light blue Scouter's service star background.
For example, I could wear service stars in one of the 2 options:
| Option A: | Option B: |
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and Russ Jones also made me.....
....yell AWWWW MAN!!, here...thanks for the reminder, Russ!!
Excellent explanation, except that one cannot wear a single service star to indicate more than 10 years of service. Since the stars only come with the numbers 1 through 10 and multiples of 10 thereafter, two separate stars (a 10 and a 5, in your example) are required to indicate years of service in excess of ten, except when the total is an even multiple of ten.
There are year pins available for:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 years of service (since the BSA itself is only 90 years old).
There are VETERANS pins (which are NOT worn on the field uniform, but may be worn as a tie-tac or tie bar) for :
10, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 70, 75, 80, 85 and 90 years of tenure.
Everything ABOVE 25 years must be purchased through your local Council whom must obtain them from the BSA's Supply Division upon approval.
Of course, this is only applicable for indicating adult service or for indicating the total of all youth and adult years, since it is not possible to remain in any one division of the program as a youth for as much as ten years (except, of course, in the case of those Scouts who are not subject to the age limitations due to a physical or mental challenge).
*Finally, SERVICE STARS ARE WORN AT THE OPTION OF THE WEARER. There's nothing that says that you HAVE to wear them; but if you do decide to do so, wear them properly and with pride.
Service stars are worn centered on the left pocket button slightly above the left pocket seam.
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If you wear one or more square knot emblems representing special awards, the service star(s) are worn above those knot emblems as if that became the new pocket seam.
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One other note about the service stars: COMMISSIONERS and other leaders are responsible for insuring that we adults and our youth wear the service stars correctly and in the appropriate location on our uniforms. I always buy a pack of 12 Cub, Scout, Explorer, and adult backings ($1.20 a package) from my local Council's service center before I go to camp or off to some event that has "high vis" all over it. When I see a Scout or Scouter with the pin in the wrong place, I politely ask their permission to either add the backing (the most typical problem) or to repin it in the right place. Know what I hear more than anything?? "I didn't know it *goes* there....I was pinned on the pocket" or "on the shirt" and I just thought it belonged there!"
The Service star has been used since our earliest days in Scouting. It's an important part of uniforming, and all units should be using those pins to recognize adult and youth tenure in the Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of the USA's programs. It's inexpensive to purchase and the rules are fairly simple to follow. Thanks for the personal email...I enjoyed reading and replying to it all, and keep it coming please; but also thanks for bringing up a GREAT topic and discussion here!!!
Settummanque!
