Category Archives: Types of Patches

A Brief Summary of Patrol Patches

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A subgroup to a Boy Scout troops larger whole, Boy Scout patrols have been part of scouting since its inception. Playing an important roll in boosting spirit while giving opportunities for leadership, skill development, and advancement, patrol patches often celebrate unique activities and are embroidered with some fantastic art that fits within its small space.

Orc Partrol Patch From ClassB.com

To meet the BSA requirements for uniform wear, patrol patches must be 1.5 inches round with a khaki background, khaki merrowed boarder, and use no more than three thread colors. Originally patrols took the name as animals and used colored ribbon or leather as an identifier. Over time, silk-screened patches replaced the ribbons until finally embroidered patches where introduced. Historically, patrols were encouraged to place adjectives in the patrol names to personalize and help build troop spirit.

Animal identifiers are still used but there are a number of other creative identifiers using objects, food and beliefs. These patrol patches can often fall outside of the BSA regulations using colorful twill and more than three thread colors. In some corners of the Internet, there has been a lively debate about whether troops should break BSA regulations. Some leaders believe that the regulations are clear and shouldn’t be broken while other leaders feel they can gain troop unity and morale. No matter what side of the debate, when troops participate in competitions where uniform inspections will occur, those not using patrol patches to BSA regulations may be docked some points.

Urban Land Scouts Vegtable Growing Patch

Even if the patrol patch isn’t to spec, the small size offers a great medium for any message. The popularity of patrol patches with those who don’t participate in scouting has increased recently. The Urban Land Scouts use patrol patches in an effort to educate about the human relationship to plant life and Mother Nature. Nerd Merit Badges celebrate quirky accomplishments like an empty email inbox and fixing broken printers. I’ve seen designs for coffee patrols, Mr. Potatohead patrols and cow bell patrols. Patrol patches are a fun way of celebrating just about anything.

What is your favorite patrol patch? What’s a patrol patch you’d love to have made?

This post first appeared on the InsaneScouter blog on 10/4/11

Boy Scout Merit Badges by the Numbers

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The Newest Merit Badge: Robotics

An important part of a Boy Scout’s journey, merit badges have been around for over a 100 years. The scouting handbook says “A merit badge is an invitation to explore an exciting subject. With more than a hundred to choose from, some merit badges encourage you to increase your skill in subjects you already like while others challenge you to learn about new areas of knowledge.” Since merit badges are another term for embroidered patches (and Stadri is all about embroidered patches) we’ve got them everywhere!  Here are some random statistics I’ve collected regarding merit badges:

14 – Merit badges in the BSA’s initial list in 1910 – they didn’t produce or award any them that year.
57 -  Merit badges the BSA officially manufactured and awarded in 1911.
11 – Of the original 57 that have the same basic design as when they were introduced.
140 – The maximum amount of merit badges available at any one time.
126 – Amount of merit badges available as of December 31, 2010.
161,252 – Bugling merit badges earned between 1911 and 2001.
21 – Total merit badges a scout must earn to achieve Eagle Scout rank.

12- Number of required merit badges a scout must earn to achieve Eagle Scout.
10 – Major types of merit badges.
4 – Legs on the Bee in the Beekeeping merit badge from 1914-1938. Bees have 6 legs.
1 – ‘Spoof’ or patrol patch that became an actual merit badge – Scuba Diving.
142 – Record for amount of merit badges earned by one person.
4 – Historic patches offered during the Boy Scouts Centennial.
113,638,951 – Total merit badges Boy Scouts earned from 1911 to 2007.

Completely random huh? What merit badge facts do you know?
Comment on here, Facebook or Twitter!

I used the following websites to compile the random facts:
www.scouting.org
www.bsatroop780.org
www.meritbadge.info
www.en.wikipedia.org
www.sageventure.com
www.troopcrew180.org
www.patchlodge.com
The Boy Scout Handbook

Boy Scout Merit Badge: Geocaching

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One of the new merit badges announced this year is Geocaching. Geocaching is an outdoor activity that pairs GPS and other navigational techniques to find a cache – anything from an amazing view to a hidden container of treasures.  Often described as a ‘high-tech game of hide and seek’ there are over 1.2 geocaches  in more than 200 countries worldwide.

The addition of geocaching seems like a great fit to the adventurous spirit of scouting. While the geocaching pamphlet has been officially released, here is the workbook for the merit badge. We’re excited to see all the different embroidered patch designs for geocaching events. It’d be neat to make one of the treasures at a geocach custom pin or custom decal for other seekers to find and collect.

Whats the coolest geocaching find you’ve had?