Uniform hat

[kkoesterb]

There seems to be a debate over the hats. Are the Scouts allowed to wear them as part of their uniform indoors and are they allowed to wear them when they salute during the Pledge of Allegience. Can someone please clarify this for me?

thank you!

[Stosh]

yes and yes

[jimster]

The way I was 'taught'...

 

The scout Troop chooses what hat is their 'official' hat, this could be the standard BSA ball cap, a custom ball cap, or any other hat that the troop agrees on. In my day we had the red berets, campaign hats, and aviator style hats. Now they have the Stetson as well. In my Wood Badge class, the 'official' hat was a canvas Aussie style with the fold up sides and custom embroidery with the class number.

 

Anyway ...

 

IF they are wearing the 'official' troop hat, then it is considered part of the uniform and can be worn indoors and during flag ceremonies. Scout salute should be brought to the edge of the brim.

 

Any other 'scout style hat' is not considered part of the uniform and would be taken off in these circumstances.

 

Hope this helps ...

 

J

[kkoesterb]

Thank you for the reply. Does anyone have a reference to this information so I can take it back to the Cubmaster? Thanks.

[gcnphkr]

To the second, if you are in uniform with the uniform hat (not some other hat) when you salute the flag with the hat on using the Scout Salute. If you are wearing a different hat (and therefore not in uniform) you would remove it and place it over your heart as a salute.

 

To the second, hats used to be taken off indoors. That is not so much the custom now. If it is a problem for someone then I would take it off, otherwise I would likely leave it on. Note that even inside that hats are worn in crowds--lobbies, corridors, elevators, etc. In a assembly it would depend on the custom of the group.

 

Try the handbook. The Boy Scout Handbook covers it, I would expect that it would be covered in the various cub scout books. As to the wearing of hats indoors, that is custom and will depend on the group's specific custom.

(This message has been edited by jet526)

[jimster]

A quick Google search produced ...

 

http://www.scouter.com/forums/postings.asp?action=ReplyForm&threadID=228163&forumID=3

 

According to the Insignia Guide (No. 33066E), "Official headgear may be worn while the unit or individual is participating in an indoor formal ceremony or service duty, except in religious institutions where custom forbids. Typical indoor activities of this type are flag ceremonies, inspections, orderly duty, or ushering service. In any informal indoor activity where no official ceremony is involved, the headgear is removed as when in street clothes."

 

 

[Eagle92]

In reference to the type of hats, CS don't have many options, i.e. they wear the CS ball cap for their group, i.e. all Blue Bear hat, Orange and Blue TC, etc. Also according to the new uniform inspection sheet found here

 

http://www.boyscouttrail.com/external_frame.asp?goto=/docs/uniform_male.pdf

 

CS Leaders don't have many options. I wonder about why they don't allow the various hats like the CS Leader's Boonie hat, the various Stetsons (including several CS varieties), the expedition, or the Smokey. tell you what I'm willing to lose the 5 points to the 'uniform police" for wearing my Smokey next year, since I earned that hat back in the day.

 

In reference to the original question, From the Insignia Control Guide found here

 

http://www.scouting.org/media/insigniaguide/03.aspx

 

 

Headgear Regulations

 

Official headgear may be worn while the unit or individual is participating in an indoor formal ceremony or service duty, except in religious institutions where custom forbids. Typical indoor activities of this type are flag ceremonies, inspections, orderly duty, or ushering service. In any informal indoor activity where no official ceremony is involved, the headgear is removed as when in street clothes. The Scouter dress uniform is always worn without headgear. Pins may be worn on the jamboree hat but only while at the jamboree, and Webelos activity badges may be worn on the Webelos cap. As part of the First Class Emphasis, the large standard metal pin, No. 00017, has been reinstated as an option to the cloth First Class rank badge. The large pin also may be worn only by boys on the front of the campaign hat, No. 501, and the expedition hat, No. 637. Adults may wear the adult universal hat pin, No. 50150, on the campaign hat and the expedition hat. No other pins may be worn on official headgear of the BSA.

[BDPT00]

I don't think we're doing anyone any favors by suggesting that Scouts should wear hats indoors. If they happen to be part of a color guard or flag detail, they could wear it (but certainly wouldn't have to). I think our Scouts should be taught that a gentleman removes his hat when he enters a building. I try hard to teach my Scouts to be gentlemen, and there are no hats worn indoors for any reason.

The headgear regulation speaks about those specific Scouts participating in those specific duties. To me, that means the color guard; not the rest of the troop.

BDPT00

[Eamonn]

Of course if you want to get a head get a hat.

If you want to get a hat get a head.

 

The cap is part of the Cub Scout uniform, so other then we were in church (Our COR was our local R/C Church) The Cub Scouts wore their caps all the time, indoors, outdoors but not in the swimming pool.

A cap on a head is kinda hard to get lost!

Ea.

[John-in-KC]

At least the UG says MAY, vice shall.

 

My sainted grandmother would not be happy if I wore a hat indoors.

 

The First Sergeants and Sergeants Major I've known these past 30 years would be downright livid if I wore a hat indoors and was not under arms.

 

Mom always said: Take your hat off in the house!! (usually not in her nice voice)

[Kudu]

Here is my collection of 35 photographs and drawings from official Boy Scouts of America handbooks showing Scouts wearing hats indoors, back in the days when society was a lot more formal:

 

http://inquiry.net/uniforms/hats/inside.htm

 

Kudu

 

[jimster]

I think the main point here is that as long as it is the official uniform hat of the group it is considered part of the uniform and CAN be worn indoors as such.

 

The second point is, since it is permitted as part of the uniform, SHOULD it be worn indoors? That is a matter of custom of the group.

 

According to BSA it CAN be, question is - do you WANT to let your scouts do it?

[BDPT00]

My Scouts don't wear hats indoors ... for anything ... ever. Why should they?

The notion of "local custom" doesn't hold much water. A kid "can" wear a hat backwards indoors when he's eating at Burger King, and he can also use foul language. That's probably the way the local boys do things. Should that be the way our Scouts do things? We should be willing to set a higher standard.

I'll share one of my biggest pet peeves. I've seen far too often, Scouts leading a flag ceremony in a church, and they say, "Please remove all non-Scouting hats." Why in the world would someone be wearing a hat in a church? Why aren't we instead just teaching our Scouts (and our adults) to remove their hats when they enter a building?

BDPT00

 

[jimster]

Because the hat is part of the uniform!

 

You wouldn't ask them to remove their neckerchiefs, or leave their pocket knives outside when entering the building - would you?

 

 

[Kudu]

BDPT00 writes:

 

I'll share one of my biggest pet peeves. I've seen far too often, Scouts leading a flag ceremony in a church, and they say, "Please remove all non-Scouting hats." Why in the world would someone be wearing a hat in a church? Why aren't we instead just teaching our Scouts (and our adults) to remove their hats when they enter a building?

 

Because manners are entirely arbitrary and change over time even within the same culture.

 

The basic function of manners is to avoid offending other people, not to use them as an excuse to be a jerk as for instance in most summer camp dinning halls these days (which should serve as an incentive for Scouts to use the Patrol Method at summer camp and not have adults do their cooking).

 

Clearly from the drawings and photographs in the older BSA handbooks back when our culture was FAR more conservative than now, Scouts were expected to wear Scout hats in churches, not just for formal ceremonies as the current insignia guide nitwits seem to think.

 

Kudu

 

Scout hats indoors: http://inquiry.net/uniforms/hats/inside.htm