Merit Badge Sash and Square Knot Devices

[JEvola]

My sons Eagle Board of Review is coming up weve been trying to find out the dos and donts on a few questions.

 

1) We know that the religious emblem he earned as a Cub he can wear on his uniform but what about the devices? He earned two levels, one as a Wolf and another as a Webelos, so is he allowed to wear the two devices on the knot as a Boy Scout?

 

2) On the merit badge sash we know that he cant sew on previous rank insignia but he would like to sew on his Patrol Leader and Den Chief patches on the back of the sash along with the other temporary insignia. Is that allowed?

 

3) In regards to temporary patches that can be sewn on the back of the sash would this include;

a) A River Rat patch the troop handed out to all boys that went canoeing down the Colorado River

b) A staff patch he was given for doing work at a Webelos Woods

c) Patches from various summer camps he attended

 

Thanks in advance for any responses and thanks to everyone for all the threads Ive read that have helped us these last few weeks.

 

[scoutldr]

Welcome to the forums and congratulations to your prospective Eagle! And kudos to him for wanting to be properly uniformed!

 

To answer your questions:

 

1) Yes.

 

2) According to the BSA Insignia Guide, badges of office or rank are not considered "temporary insignia". Temporary insignia are defined as those representing "events" such as camporees, summer camps, etc. At the Eagle BOR that I am privileged to sit, the Scouts frequently have a "brag book", usually a 3-ring binder with plastic pages (like for baseball cards) that contains his Scouting history, cards, certificates, pathches, photos, etc. They are nice to look at and the Board can use it to generate discussion, but not mandatory.

 

3) Yes, those are acceptable.

 

That being said, if son shows up without devices on his square knot or a Den Chief patch on his sash, I doubt anyone will mention it.

 

 

[emb021]

" 1) We know that the religious emblem he earned as a Cub he can wear on his uniform but what about the devices? He earned two levels, one as a Wolf and another as a Webelos, so is he allowed to wear the two devices on the knot as a Boy Scout?"

 

Yes.

 

That's the purpose of the knot devices: to indicate that you have earned multiple awards. He has earned a first-level (cub scout) and 2nd-level (webelos scout) awards. So he can wear the cub scout and webelos scout knot devices all the time on his knot. When/if he earns the 3rd level (boy scout) and/or 4th level (older boy scout/venturer) he can wear the boy scout and venturer device to indicate those.

 

This is explained in the insignia guide.

 

" 2) On the merit badge sash we know that he cant sew on previous rank insignia but he would like to sew on his Patrol Leader and Den Chief patches on the back of the sash along with the other temporary insignia. Is that allowed?"

 

No.

 

You can only wear merit badges and temporary patches (event patches) on the sash. No rank. No past office. No 'other awards' (world conservation award, 50 miler, historical trails, lifeguard bsa, etc).

 

In regards to the temporary insiginia, all you listed would be fine.

 

 

[Buffalo Skipper]

Welcome JEvola--it's good to have you at the virtual campfire.

 

Yes, he can (and in my opinion should) wear both a Cub Scout and Webelos devices on his knot. This is, to my knowledge, the only award which uses the Webelos device. And be sure to have him wear his Cub Scout and Boy Scout service stars (yellow and green background), properly adorned above the knot. Of course, make sure he his other uniform insignia is correct and attached neatly.

 

Yes, it is acceptable to wear temporary patches on the back of his sash; "temporary insignia" is defined by the BSA as special insignia for participating in unit, District, Council or national events or programs, which would also exclude any position insignia. But personally, I feel wearing the temporary insignia here is over the top. Though meaningful to him personally, they do not reflect any required information for his earning his Eagle rank. I would encourage him to wear one on his right pocket (which will, unfortunately, be obscured by his sash). This is, of course his decision. I would encourage him to be sparing and tasteful in this presentation, as like the one on his uniform shirt, it will not be seen by anyone on the Board of Review (until he leaves the room).

 

Again, welcome, and good luck to your son as he has is Board of Review.

 

Look at this link for a little more info:

http://www.mninter.net/~blkeagle/sash.htm

[JEvola]

Thanks to everyone who responded, your help is very much appreciated.

 

Although this is my first post I've actually been a lurker since my son was in Tigers...

 

My son and I owe a lot to this site for all the information we've been able to gather over the years.