Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth social movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking, and sports. Another widely recognized movement characteristic is the Scout uniform, by intent hiding all differences of social standing in a country and encouraging equality, with neckerchief and campaign hat or comparable headwear. Distinctive uniform insignia include the fleur-de-lis and the trefoil, as well as merit badges and other patches.
In 1907, Robert Baden-Powell, a lieutenant general in the British Army held a Scouting encampment on Brownsea Island in England. Baden-Powell wrote Scouting for Boys (London, 1908), partly based on his earlier military books. The Scout Movement of both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts was well established in the first decade of the twentieth century. Later, programs for younger children, such as Wolf Cubs (1916), now Cubs, and for older adolescents, such as Rovers (1918), were adopted by some Scout organizations. In 1910, Baden-Powell formed the Girl Guides, for girls in the United Kingdom which spread internationally as Girl Guides and includes age programs of (Brownie Guide, Girl Guide and Girl Scout, Ranger Guide).
In 2007, Scouting and Guiding together had over 38 million members in 216 countries. International umbrella organizations include:
The history of merit badges in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) has been tracked by categorizing them into a series of merit badge types. In addition to the Boy Scouts of America, many other Scouting and Scouting-like organizations around the world, such as Pathfinders, Baden-Powell Scouts and Royal Rangers, issue merit badges or their equivalent; though they are sometimes called honors or proficiency badges. Other organizations, such as fire brigades, issue badges or awards that they refer to as merit badges, but that is in some respects different from the badges awarded by the BSA.
Merit badges have been an integral part of the Scouting program since the start of the movement in the United Kingdom on August 1, 1907, and are an important part of the uniform and insignia of Scouts, BSA. Scouting came to the United States in 1910; the BSA quickly issued an initial list of just 14 merit badges but did not produce or award them. In 1911, the BSA manufactured the first official 57 merit badges and began awarding them. The number of badges available has been as high as 127 in 1975 and again in 1987. As of February 2017, the number of badges available is 137. Merit badge types are identifiable by the cloth and manufacturing process used to make them. The classification of badges into types came about as a way for collectors to categorize and classify their collections. Merit badge collectors often collect other Scouting memorabilia as well. (Full article...)Juliette Gordon Low (née Gordon; October 31, 1860 – January 17, 1927) was the American founder of Girl Scouts of the USA. Inspired by the work of Lord Baden-Powell, founder of Scout Movement, she joined the Girl Guide movement in England, forming her own group of Girl Guides there in 1911.
In 1912 she returned to the States, and the same year established the first U.S. Girl Guide troop in Savannah, Georgia. In 1915, the United States' Girl Guides became known as the Girl Scouts, and Juliette Gordon Low was the first ever leader. She remained active until the time of her death. (Full article...)2nd
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World Organization of the Scout Movement:
World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts:
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