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Wearing medals

rrclark1

By rrclark1
in Uniforms

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rrclark1 Junior Member

rrclark1

Posted
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Scout Sunday was today. I didn't know if I should wear all of my medals or not:

 

Eagle

Parvuli Dei

Ad Altre Dei

Pop Pius XII

 

I'm an Assistant Scoutmaster and decided to wear all of them. One person stated that I needed to have the medals pinned on the knot itself that I have on the uniform. I had never heard that before and it would be impossible for the religious awards since I have three.

 

Does anyone know the "official" policy for placement of medals on uniforms for formal occasions?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Yours In Scouting,

 

Richard

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emb021 Senior Member

emb021

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Posted

You pin up to 5 in a row above the left pocket. thats it.

 

Some try to claim you have to pin the medal to or above the knot representing it. Considering you have 3 medals representing one knot, kind of hard. Ignore such nonsense.

 

The Insignia Guide shows the wearing of medals with knots. Take a look.

 

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Buffalo Skipper Senior Member

Buffalo Skipper

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I saw a photo of a young man who was participating in the 2008 Koch Cup (the international equivilent of the America's Cup--see www.seascoutcup.org/). He was wearing his whites and he had his Eagle Scout, Quartermaster, Venturing Silver, Ranger, and Raymond Finley Award (Community Service with US Power Squadrons) medals (the picture is old and has been removed from the website). He had them in two overlapping rows, the lower row of 3 and spaced inbetween and about a 1/2" higher the last two.

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emb021 Senior Member

emb021

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"Is it OK for an adult to wear the medals he earned as a youth? Mine was the Parvuli Dei and I had just assumed that I shouldn't wear it. "

 

YES its ok.

 

Don't let anyone tell you you can't. Just keep in mind that medals are for formal occasions.

 

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Beavah Senior Member

Beavah

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Don't let anyone tell you you can't.

 

OK, then, better close your eyes and plug your ears :).

 

Yeh can, of course. Now da question is whether you should.

 

Generally speakin', youth awards are for the youth, eh? If yeh read the Insignia Guide, it says:

 

With the exception of the Cub Scout badges of rank and Arrow Points, members wear only the insignia that show their present status in the movement. Members should make every effort to keep their uniforms neat and uncluttered. Previously earned badges and insignianot representing present statusmake a fine display on a BSA red patch vest, a trophy hide or blanket, exhibited in the home of the recipient, or at functions where such a display is invited. (emphasis mine)

 

So in da case of rrclark1, I think he'd only wear the adult religious award for his denomination (da St. George, I believe), reflecting his present status as an adult leader. Especially since that neater, cleaner uniform would be consistent with his tradition's emphasis on humility in addition to da BSA's guidance.

 

Now some folks think that it's OK to be an example to youth along the trail by showin' you got da award they're goin' for. A reasonable argument can be made for that, eh? So rrclark1 in that case would wear his Ad Altare Dei and his Eagle, but not da other two. Wearin' a Cub Scout award as an adult Boy Scout leader gets a bit silly IMHO. Just bein' ostentatious for its own sake. Be a bit like your doctor wearin' a ribbon from his 5th grade science fair project on his lab coat.

 

That having been said, there is also an informal tradition in Scoutin' to keep wearin' the capstone awards when yeh move up the chain (AOL, Eagle, Silver/Ranger/QM/Ace/etc.).

 

Your mileage and your opinions may vary, eh? But I always discourage the adults from wearin' lots of excess baubles at Scout Sunday and other public appearances like that. Seems to take away from where the focus should really be - on the kids and on God. That proper focus is da image we want to convey to others, it seems to me.

 

Beavah

 

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Eagle92 Senior Member

Eagle92

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Beav,

Great post. as usual. But FYI, Pope Pius is the Older Scout/Sea Scout/ Exploring/Venturing religious award, and would also be appropriate for a Scouter to wear.

 

 

EDITED: appropriate for a Boy Scout leader to wear. Not many folks get or even know about the Pope Pius. I remember only 5 folks getting it, and 4 were from the same unit. If memory serves over 200 folks got the AAD at the same service.(This message has been edited by eagle92)

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Beavah Senior Member

Beavah

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Pope Pius is the Older Scout/Sea Scout/ Exploring/Venturing religious award

 

Yah, thanks for da correction, Eagle92. Seems like a Catholic scouter from their relationships committee told me that the materials for da Pius medal expected/required a coed discussion, eh? So I figured they were limiting it to Venturing these days. On reflection, there of course would be a lot of other ways to have that kind of discussion.

 

Beavah

 

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hendrickms24 Senior Member

hendrickms24

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SAINT GEORGE is the Adult Religious award for the Roman Catholics.

The Boy Scouts awards are Ad Altare Dei which is designed for 13-14 years old Boy Scouts. The Pope Pius XII designed for Venturing Crew Members and Boy Scouts 15 years old and older. So they are not limiting it to just Venturing Crew Members. I got this straight off the National Catholic Committee on Scouting web page. This committee is in charge of the Roman Catholic awards so I would take their word over anyone else. I have only seen one person with the Pope Pius XII award but think that has to do with the age group it's for. Most of my friends and I really did not care about awards at age 16 and older! We stayed in scouts for the camping and a place to hang out with our friends.

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