Merit Badge Sashes ... Who qualifies to wear one?

[John-in-KC]

I will never understand placing rank patches on the back of the sash.  Boy Scouts are not Cubbies who wear all their ranks earned until the tan shirt which usually just wear Webelos badge. 

You may not understand it, but it's been going on for 60 years and more.  I have two very good friends, husband and wife.  He's in his 70s.  There's a photo of him taken right after his Eagle COH.  At the time, he was an Explorer (that dark green shirt says it all).  He wore his MB sash for the portrait.  Yes, it has his ranks on it, on the front, above his MBs.

 

She, many years later, painted the photograph, enlarging it onto the canvas.

 

PS:  She's one of our Camp Directors, and has been one of our Assistant Council Commissioners.  They're both great people.

Edited January 11, 2016 by John-in-KC

[ScoutMomof5]

So nothing saying a boy cannot wear the sash after earning his eagle rank? There is a 16 yr old I the troop who has earned his eagle rank. This pass weekend we had an Eagle COH for another scout. The 16 yr old showed up in full uniform including his sash. He was told by a committee member that he must remove it. This was incorrect, right?

[scoutldr]

Yes, that was incorrect.  Any scout can wear a MB sash any time he wants, as long as he has earned at least one MB.  Adults (18 and above) do NOT wear rank badges or MB sashes.  As stated above, the sash should be worn properly, or not at all.  Hanging from the belt is not permitted.

[Krampus]

So nothing saying a boy cannot wear the sash after earning his eagle rank? There is a 16 yr old I the troop who has earned his eagle rank. This pass weekend we had an Eagle COH for another scout. The 16 yr old showed up in full uniform including his sash. He was told by a committee member that he must remove it. This was incorrect, right?

 

 

Yes, that was incorrect.  Any scout can wear a MB sash any time he wants, as long as he has earned at least one MB.  Adults (18 and above) do NOT wear rank badges or MB sashes.  As stated above, the sash should be worn properly, or not at all.  Hanging from the belt is not permitted.

 

@@scoutldr is correct. Also, if he's in OA (Order of the Arrow) he wears only the OA sash or the MB sash, never both and never with one hanging from his belt. Also, OA sashes are only worn when the Scout is an at OA function or at a COH (or elsewhere) acting in the role of the OA (i.e., representing the OA at a COH).

 

I love the "Bryan on Scouting" blog because he usually dispels (or sometimes confirms) the urban legends around what some people (mostly adults) say can or can't be done. Here's a great one on the MB sash. You should have the Scout email the link to the committee member.

Edited April 6, 2016 by Krampus

[desertrat77]

There was a long spell where nothing but MBs could be worn on the sash.   This after decades of the BSA allowing scouts to put their rank, camp patches, etc. on the back.

 

Then it was allowed again.   I think it's a good call, a safe place to keep everything that meant something to a scout as they advanced.   Patch blankets and vests just aren't the same.

 

Sleeves:   My first MB, firemanship, was my sole MB for about 1.5 years.   Sewn to my right sleeve, it got kind of ragged, as it was with me on every adventure/misadventure.   Eventually it found its way to a sash.   When I dig my footlocker out of the garage and take a look at my sash every other year or so, that first MB still stands out--darker, ratty-looking--but it came by that appearance honestly.

 

OA sashes:   an interesting habit, these days, of wearing the sash to monthly district meetings, troop meetings, etc.   I understand the pride, but that's what the flap and/or pocket ribbon are for.   Sash should stay in the footlocker till a) OA events or b) attending an event in an official OA capacity.

[Stosh]

@@desertrat77  That flap patch means very little to kids.  I had a group of new boys head out to camp with me and the first year I forgot to pack my OA sash.  No big deal.  I have the flap.  Well the second summer camp rolls around and I had my sash and wore it.  The kids were all totally blown away that I was an OA member.  Never saw the pocket flap?  Gotta work the boys on their observation skills. 

[Krampus]

@@desertrat77  That flap patch means very little to kids.  I had a group of new boys head out to camp with me and the first year I forgot to pack my OA sash.  No big deal.  I have the flap.  Well the second summer camp rolls around and I had my sash and wore it.  The kids were all totally blown away that I was an OA member.  Never saw the pocket flap?  Gotta work the boys on their observation skills. 

 

That's because BSA has over-blinged stuff these days. Back in the day there were no or few knots, no mentor pins, no adult patrol patches, no JTE patches, no world crest rings, no jambo patches from 1960 worn 20 years after the fact; only service stars, temp patches (worn very sparingly) and flaps. Flaps were ONLY OA. So when you saw an adult you saw a plain uniform, a service star and either flap or no flap. When you saw a flap it was like seeing jump wings; instant respect.

 

If you de-blinged the adult uniform (good luck with that) you'd see the kids perk up when they saw a flap. The don't see it these days because they are blinded by the 357 other patches or pins the adult is wearing. Some adults look like those pin collectors you see at Disney World. Find the OA flap in that photo.

 

Edited April 6, 2016 by Krampus

[desertrat77]

@@Stosh, good point.   Could it be that today's uniforms have so much bling/geegaws/gimcracks that it all blends together?   A good example, from another thread, is the world crest and the 2010 ring.

 

My blasphemous opinion:  

1.  World crest:  superfluous.  

2.  Centennial ring:  beyond superfluous (if that were possible, and in this case, I think it is).

 

And the list could go on.   When you see an old scouter's shirt on the Big Auction site, they were remarkably bling-free.

[desertrat77]

That's because BSA has over-blinged stuff these days. Back in the day there were no or few knots, no mentor pins, no adult patrol patches, no JTE patches, no world crest rings, no jambo patches from 1960 worn 20 years after the fact; only service stars, temp patches (worn very sparingly) and flaps. Flaps were ONLY OA. So when you saw an adult you saw a plain uniform, a service star and either flap or no flap. When you saw a flap it was like seeing jump wings; instant respect.

 

If you de-blinged the adult uniform (good luck with that) you'd see the kids perk up when they saw a flap. The don't see it these days because they are blinded by the 357 other patches or pins the adult is wearing. Some adults look like those pin collectors you see at Disney World. Find the OA flap in that photo.

 

Krampus, serendipity...as I was typing my response to Stosh, I saw the bar "1 new response posted" or words to that effect.

 

Once I posted my 2:00 PM, and then read yours, I believe your post makes the point better than mine.  

 

Scouts/Disney/bling:   we call also recall Office Space, and the discussion re "flair" 

[Stosh]

Good thing the guy is overweight or he'd have to leave half his bling at home.

[desertrat77]

@Krampus:   you mention adults wearing patrol patches...I concur, they didn't do that in the past.

 

However, one exception.   When I was a young scout, I recall a SM in a neighboring troop who had a great sense of humor.   As the old saying goes, he could make a dog laugh.   Very dynamic, active, positive troop.

 

One day I noticed his shirt, and he was wearing an old Hog Production MB where a patrol patch was supposed to be.   It took me a minute or two, then I realized the punch line.

[desertrat77]

Good thing the guy is overweight or he'd have to leave half his bling at home.

Also the sound of the bling...jingle all the way.

[gumbymaster]

@Krampus:   you mention adults wearing patrol patches...I concur, they didn't do that in the past.

 

I haven't read the current uniform guide on this specifically; but my thoughts are that this is not necessarily a bad thing.  I know some adults wear their woodbadge patrol patch there - that's not what I am talking about.

 

When I was a youth (80's), in a fairly large, boy run troop, there were always too many adults around.  So the Scoutmaster organized them into a patrol - complete with patch.  They had their own tents, chuck box, cooking gear, etc., just like any other patrol in the troop.  They cooked their own meals, and setup their own campsite (probably not 300' away, but not right with the other patrols either).

In essence, it was a lead by example - they modeled the behavior expected of the Scouts, but did not get in their face about it.  It seemed to be a pretty effective system at the time.

 

Their meals were definitely above typical camp grade (no tube steaks), and did encourage the Leadership Corps (also organized as their own patrol) to up their game in friendly competition, which in turn encouraged the other patrols to up their game as well.

 

As to the original topic, as other have said, the sash is appropriate at any time the scout is in a full uniform, if worn properly.  Adults do not wear the sash.

[RememberSchiff]

Perhaps I missed it, but I have found no BSA documentation stating that a scout MUST wear MB's on a sash, sleeve, or anywhere else? Could a scout just keep his merit badges in a box and skip the sash?

[Stosh]

Perhaps I missed it, but I have found no BSA documentation stating that a scout MUST wear MB's on a sash, sleeve, or anywhere else? Could a scout just keep his merit badges in a box and skip the sash?

 

Council strip, numbers, rank, Universal crest are the only things required.  The rest is bling.