Eagle Scout badge - when does he get to wear it?

[isvirtual]

My son has completed the Eagle BOR in November and the troop received the completed, signed paperwork from national in December.

 

Since he has not had his Eagle Court of Honor, he has not yet received his Eagle rank badge.

 

Should he continue to wear the life badge until his COH?

Should he remove the life badge and wear none until his COH?

Should the troop provide the eagle badge immediately?

 

How is this handed in other units?

[SemperParatus]

Congratulations to isvirtual, jr.!!!!!

 

The Eagle COH should be one of the highlights of your son's scouting career. In my opinion, that is the best time to present him with the Eagle badge. I would have him continue to wear his Life badge until the COH.

[EagleInKY]

I know of situations where there was going to be a delay in the COH, so they went ahead and gave him the patch. However, they asked him to put the Life patch back on for the COH. I've heard it argued on this forum that instant recognition is important, but I think it's better on this occasion to wait.

 

Our district does something cool. They present the scout with a certificate naming him "Eagle Scout Candidate John Smith", dated on the the day of his BOR. They present it to him at the end of the BOR, and then usually the SM will present it to him again in front of his troop. I think this is a great idea and one that helps alleviate the let-down sometimes caused by the wait to get paperwork processed and a COH planned and scheduled.

[anarchist]

I have pitched this one around the diamond a couple of time and see both sides...However I am gonna give the 'economist answer'...on the on hand...and on the other hand....

 

I have seen many, many of our scouts finish in the later months of their 17th year...and wanting the 'max' out of their CoH with family attendance etc., hold off for months when scheduling their own CoH. The result is most of these boys never officially wear their Eagle patch on their Uniform...They age out and/or become ASMs. So (on one hand) if the Scout has many moons left in his scouting career...let him wait for his CoH...if (on the other hand) He is a short timer, give him the patch and either have him take it off and re-attach his Life badge or just 'award' him his certificate and medal... what ever the case...I don't think he should be denied, however, if he wants to start wearing it as soon a national approves what ever his situation...its his EAGLE!

[Vicki]

I like anarchist's approach on this one.

 

Vicki

[acco40]

We have been taught that recognition should happen in triplicate 1) when the BOR has been successfully completed (immediate via an announcement), 2) after the above, immediate procure the patch and present to the Scout, 3) formally at a COH.

 

Now an Eagle is slightly different in that after the BOR, natinal is involved. So in that case I would see only two forms of recognition. For the particulars of when the badge should be presented - since the Scout has the responsiblity of planning his Eagle COH, should not the Scout make the decision of when to receive and wear his well deserved Eagle badge?

[Eagledad]

Hi All

 

We present the Badge at the first Troop meeting after National approves it. It's slightly differernt in that all Eagle Scouts are invited in the middle of the circle to present the badge to the Scout. The scout really enjoys that because he now stands with that elite group.

 

Being a Life scout, that was the one time I as the SM stood outside the circle. I very much enjoyed showing that honor. I love scoutering.

 

Our scouts choose when they want to wear the badge, but we've had scouts wait as long as nine months to do a COH (My son was one) and that is a long time to wait for the badge. The Eagle Award has different meanings to different families. We've had a couple of COHs that were no less complicated or costly than a wedding.

 

Barry