Left Side (Shoulder) Insignia This is the insignia which goes on the LEFT SHOULDER of Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Venturers and adult volunteers and/or professionals. Basic rule of Scouting uniform is NEATNESS. Things do NOT have to be "exact" and nobody should expect every uniform to match up exactly to the templates provided here nor to a ruler or metric. The most important part is that the insignia is CLOSE TO or NEAR where it SHOULD be, and that the insignia reflects the CURRENT STATUS of the individual wearing the uniform.

Left Side (Front) Insignia

This is the insignia which goes on the LEFT SIDE of the front of Boy Scouts, Venturers and adult volunteers and/or professionals.

Basic rule of Scouting uniform is NEATNESS. Things do NOT have to be "exact" and nobody should expect every uniform to match up exactly to the templates provided here nor to a ruler or metric. The most important part is that the insignia is CLOSE TO or NEAR where it SHOULD be, and that the insignia reflects the CURRENT STATUS of the individual wearing the uniform.

Typical insignia on RIGHT FRONT SIDE of uniform shirt

  This page addresses in GENERAL TERMS what can/should be worn on the RIGHT FRONT SIDE of the typical Boy Scout/Varsity Scout/Boy Scouter uniform shirt. This closely matches what is displayed within the BSA's Insignia (Control) Guide except it goes into some additonal detail and shows things in color and a little larger than the illustration.

The biggest questions center around this side of the uniform shirt, so there's a lot of discussion and explaination about the types and decriptions of the various insignia to go on this side of the shirt.

 

Right Side (Shoulder) Insignia

This is the insignia which goes on the RIGHT SHOULDER of Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts.

Basic rule of Scouting uniform is NEATNESS. Things do NOT have to be "exact" and nobody should expect every uniform to match up exactly to the templates provided here nor to a ruler or metric. The most important part is that the insignia is CLOSE TO or NEAR where it SHOULD be, and that the insignia reflects the CURRENT STATUS of the individual wearing

Sashes

This page indexes questions and answers, as well as displays of current and past sashes.

ONLY BOY SCOUTS, VARSITY SCOUTS, AND SCOUTERS WEAR A SASH OF SOME SORT. ONLY YOUTH MEMBERS WEAR MERIT BADGE SASHES.

The sash is a particular item exclusive to the Boy Scout/Varsity Scout part of the BSA. In the past, male Explorers also wore special merit badge sashes. Today, only Boy Scouts and Varsity Scouts wear merit badge sashes; MALE Venturers and Sea Scouts may HAVE a merit badge sash but they are NOT permitted to be worn with the Venturing kelly green nor the Sea Scout white nor blue uniforms.

The Order of the Arrow, Boy Scouting's national honorary camping and service society, has three sashes which are worn during formal Order of the Arrow events, ceremonies, and activities and when PERFORMING SERVICE FOR OTHERS. The OA sash is NOT worn nor suspended from a belt during regular meetings, activities or unit/district/council camping events.

Perhaps the most frequently asked question dealing with sashes is the "wearing or suspending them from the belt" question. It goes typically like this:

I remember when I was a Scout (Explorer), that we got to wear our merit badge sashes suspended from the left hip side of the belt and the OA sash from our right hip side of the belt. I was told that "national doesn't do this any more". Is anything sacred any more?? Next thing they'll gonna tell me is that Scouts don't wear the 50-Miler patch on the uniform shirt!"

(As a point of clarification, no, the 50-Miler patch is never worn on the uniform shirt.)

The BSA NEVER AUTHORIZED the wearing of either the OA sash nor the merit badge sash from a belt. The sashes are intended to be WORN only during FORMAL EVENTS and ACTIVITIES, or in the case of the Order of the Arrow sash, only while participating in clearly Order of the Arrow activities or service.

 

The "wearing of the sash on the belt" thing was something handed down from older Scouters who couldn't catch the clue that the merit badge sash wasn't something to slug around week to week at the Troop meetings nor out in the wilderness; and that the carrying of the OA sash around everywhere takes some of the "mystique" out of the OA program.

Merit Badge Sashes

  One of the oldest parts of the Boy Scout uniform, the merit badge sash is the place to display merit badges AND more recently activity or special event patches and insignia.

The merit badge sash is worn FORMALLY ONLY by the Boy Scout and Varsity Scout. Male Venturers and Sea Scouts have an option to wear the sash; female Venturers and Sea Scouts may NOT wear the sash since technically, they cannot earn merit badges (more on that down further on this page).

On this page are answers to the commonly asked questions dealing with merit badge sashes, who wears them, when, and why/why not.

What IS a Merit Badge Sash?

A merit badge sash is a piece of olive drab cloth (matches the color of the standard uniform pants). Former Explorers and current Venturers wear a piece of kelly green cloth (which used to match the uniform pants and now just matches the shirt).

The sash is worn suspended from the RIGHT shoulder and downward at a slant as illustrated below:

  The merit badge sash is worn during formal activities and events , and not during Troop meetings or campouts. A "Formal activity" is an awards ceremony, a Blue and Gold banquet, a Troop Court of Honor or Team Awards ceremony, a recognition dinner staged by a unit, District, Council or Region, and special activities which lends itself to wearing the merit badge sash. Serving as an escort for a special guest during a dinner is a good example; serving as an usher is not. Serving as a accolade may be. The key is that the sash physically gets in the way of doing anything except looking good...therefore, it should only be worn during those times in which your role is purely "one in which you're looking good" and not doing a lot of physical exertion. Flag details and color guards are NOT "special occasions" since the sash tends to fall or slip off at the most inappropriate times. This is also why the merit badge sash is NOT worn during summer camps, regular Troop or Team meetings or any other time other than FORMAL SPECIAL OCCASIONS.

Only one sash may be worn at any time.

What Goes and Doesn't Go on a Sash?

Merit Badges goes on the sash. There are more than 100 merit badges issued by the Boy Scouts of America at any given time, and no more than 130 of them. Very few Scouts earn more than 50 merit badges and those who do earn more than fifty normally do not earn all 100 or so of them before they turn 18 years of age. There are plenty of exceptions, and I personally know of several Eagle Scouts whom have earned all of the merit badges available to them at the time of their registration as Scouts.

Merit badges are one-inch diameter badges illustrating a skill, hobby, vocation or occupation. More information on merit badges, including areas in which they are to be earned in as well as full color scans or illustrations of them can be found at meritbadge.com

Merit badges ONLY are worn on the FRONT of the sash. On the back of the sash, additional merit badges may be sewn and temporary insignia may be sewn. "Temporary insignia" is defined by the BSA as special insignia for participating in unit, District, Council or national events or programs. Previous rank, service stars and pins are NOT to be worn on the sash.

Merit badges may be worn in any order that the Scout chooses, and not necessarily in alphabetical nor "required-non required" order. Most Scouts choose to wear merit badges in the order in which they have earned them.

  And now...a Word About the Gals and Merit Badges

The merit badge program is primarily a Boy Scout Program feature. Boy and Varsity Scouts as well as male Venturers and Sea Scouts use the merit badge program in order to advance using the standard Boy Scout advancement program. Additionally, special awards such as the William T. Hornaday and Scout Lifeguard require some merit badge work if not complete merit badges to be earned.

The BSA allows female members of Venturing and Sea Scouting units to complete requirements toward merit badges and to certify their completion as part of their completion or earning of the Hornaday, Lifeguard BSA or other special awards. However, female youth members of Venturing or Sea Scouting units may NOT wear merit badge sashes nor wear merit badges on the official uniforms.

Several former Exploring Advisors/Skippers like myself have awarded merit badges to female members of their units. We documented the merit badge completion and instead of turning the (blue) merit badge application card into the local Council office for recordposting as we would do for male youth, we retained the cards and photocopied them as attachments to Exploring Achievement Award and other award applications.

Now that Venturing has taken the place of Exploring, many Skippers and Advisors of Venturing units with female members willing to earn the merit badges needed to earn the Bronze or Silver Hornaday Medal or other awards are doing the same things that myself and other Advisors and Skippers have done before. This IS NOT RECOMMENDED BY THE BSA; the BSA's stance is still that female youth members CAN NOT EARN BOY SCOUT ADVANCEMENT (to include merit badges).

For this reason, females may not wear merit badge sashes of any kind with the official BSA uniforms (including the kelly green Venturing uniform nor the white or blue Sea Scout uniforms.)

How Many Merit Badges Are Worn in a Row?

On the wide sash, three merit badges should be worn in a row as shown here;

  on the narrow sash, two merit badges should be worn in a row as shown.