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A History Lesson on Webelos Colors
Mike Walton, www.USScouts.org
In
Response to a question from Barbara
Barbara wrote me -
"Dave -- our son is a Webelos I and is earning pins toward
his Webelos
badge and eventually Arrow of Light.... Our
question is this, does it make a difference on which ribbon
he displays
the pins? Since there are three colors, gold, red,
and green, it would make sense to have a requirement for
what goes
where.
In response Mike wrote -
The three badge colors represent the three programs in the
BSA: Cub Scouting
(the yellow/gold), Boy/Varsity
Scouting (the red) and "Senior Scouting" (used to be
Exploring and now Venturing, the
green). These are the
same three colors found in the "WEBELOS Tartan", an
official tartan (plaid) color combination
recognized in
Scotland (and is also referred to as the "Boy Scouts of
America Tartan", just so you know -- and if you
get a chance
to go to Scotland and request a woolen skirt and they ask
you for the "family name" or the "tartan name"
*smiling*).
The BSA's "Pedro" jacket features that three color plaid
color combination as well.
When the WEBELOS Badge colors were introduced in the
spring of 1969, the then-Director
of Cub Scouting answered
this question in the following manner:
"There is a sequence for the placement of the 15 silver
activity
badges upon the Badge Colors. The first five should
be worn on the central color, the gold (yellow) strand
because the WEBELOS is transitioning
from being a Cub
Scout to a Boy Scout. The next five should be placed onto
the
green color because it is hopeful that the outdoors aspect
of Boy Scouting will appeal to the
WEBELOS Cub Scout
and will whet his appetite toward becoming a Boy Scout.
The
final five should be placed onto the red color strand as a
reminder of his goal toward earning
the Arrow of Light and
becoming a Tenderfoot Boy Scout." (Back in the day, we did
not have a joining step called "Scout" and instead Arrow of
Light recipients automatically
became Tenderfoot Boy
Scouts upon graduation from a Cub Scout Pack to a Boy
Scout Troop).
I guess that bit of wisdom was not past down , because the
same
question was asked in 1974, when the Cub Scout
program was revised and there was this answer
inSCOUTING
magazine within the "Front Line Stuff"
column: "WEBELOS Cub Scouts may wear the activity
badges as earned in any manner
on any of the three strands
of the WEBELOS Badge colors. The most important part of
the process is that he earns the badge and displays it on his
uniform on the Badge
colors."
And again in 2003, the same question was asked again in
"Front
Line Stuff" and someone from the Cub Scout
Division answered in this manner: "The 20 multi-colored
badges earned for participating in activities as a WEBELOS
Cub Scout may be worn
either on the WEBELOS Badge
colors OR on the WEBELOS Cub Scout hat. The number of
or which strand it is worn on first, second or last is up to the
WEBELOS Cub Scout.
On the hat, the activity badges
should be worn on either side of the WEBELOS badge
emblem in the center of the hat. Either all of the badges are
worn on the hat
or on the Badge colors and this is an option
of the individual WEBELOS Cub Scout and his parents."
So to summarize:
The 20 activity badges are worn, in any order that the
WEBELOS
Cub Scout chooses, on the WEBELOS Badge
colors or alternatively on the WEBELOS Cub Scout hat
(personally, Mike & I think wearing
them on the hat like
pins one receives from Disneyland or some resort place is
very tacky but at the time kids were wearing hat pins and it
was very popular
and "stylish").
The three strands
represent the three program groups of the
Boy Scouts of America. Alternatively, if he chooses
to wear
them on the WEBELOS Cub Scout hat, he wears one half on
one
side of the WEBELOS "tartan" or plaid hat.
I hope this bit of Scouting history and lore helps
your son
and you out, Barbara, and I hope it helps others who ask
Dave
or the local Scout Shop(tm) employee the same
question. I'll put this together and add it to
my Badge and
Uniform Site later this month.
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