Members

Badge Guide

It starts with one badge that every Scout in the world shares, and grows from there. Here's the Membership Award, the badges we all wear as the 144th, and then what each section can earn and where it all goes on the uniform.

Working on a badge at home?

You can send us photos, a short video or a document as evidence, straight through Online Scout Manager. It's optional, and our step-by-step guide walks you through it.

How to complete badges at home →

The first badge of all

The Membership Award

Before any activity badge, before the first camp, every single member of the 144th earns the same badge — and so does every Scout on the planet. The Membership Award is given when a young person makes their Promise, and the emblem on it is the mark of worldwide Scouting.

It isn’t something to revise for. Over their first few weeks a young person simply settles in, and their leaders help them get there:

Get to know the section

Come along, meet the other young people and the leaders, and find out what the section gets up to — its games, its ceremonies and its traditions.
Find out about Scouts

Where Scouting came from, and how big the family really is — millions of young people, in more countries than you can name.
Learn the Promise

Every section has its own Promise, in words that suit their age. They’ll learn what it means, along with the sign, the salute and the famous left handshake.
Make the Promise

At a small ceremony called an Investiture, they make their Promise in front of the section — and receive the badge. It’s a proper moment, and parents are usually invited along.

What it all means

Every part of it stands for something

The fleur-de-lis

A compass needle. Scouting borrowed it from the old maps and charts, and it means what it always meant — this is the way. Keep pointing the right way.
The two stars

Truth and knowledge. Ten points between them, one for each part of the original Scout Law.
The rope and its knot

A rope tied in a reef knot, circling everything else. A reef knot is the one that holds fast and doesn’t slip — which is rather the point. It’s the whole movement, bound together.
The purple ground

The colour of world Scouting since 1920, and the reason the badge looks the same on a uniform in Baillieston as it does on one in Jakarta.

The same emblem, everywhere

Fifty million people are wearing this badge

Scouting runs in over 170 countries, and every one of them uses this same emblem. Different languages, different uniforms, different food at camp — same badge on the chest. When your young person is given theirs, they join the largest youth movement there has ever been.

Scouts worldwide: More than 50m Scouts worldwide
countries and territories: Over 170 countries and territories
shared emblem: One shared emblem

Every country with a national Scout organisation, lit up. Scouting isn’t quite everywhere yet — which is a decent thing for a Scout to wonder about.

Your welcome guide is a head start

Part of the award is simply finding out about the group and about Scouting around the world — which is exactly what our new members’ welcome guide is for. Have a read through it together before the first Monday and you’ll have made a proper start on it. When they’re ready to make their Promise is a decision for their section leader, who’ll let you know when the Investiture is planned.

Open the welcome guide

The official requirements, section by section. Squirrels earn the very same award — we’ll be running a Drey before long.

Squirrels Beavers Cubs Scouts Explorers

Worn by everyone

Group badges

Whatever section they're in, every member of the 144th wears the same set of badges — they show who we are and where we're from.

Group name tape

Worn along the top of the right sleeve. It names our group — the 144th Glasgow — so wherever they go, everyone knows the gang they’re part of.

Scotland badge

Just below the name tape. We’re part of Scouts Scotland, and this little flag says so.

South East District badge

The 144th is one of the groups in Glasgow’s South East District — its badge sits on the right sleeve too.

Clyde Region badge

Our District sits within Clyde Region, covering Scouting right across the west of Scotland.

Earned across every section

Staged activity badges

A handful of badges work differently from the rest. Staged activity badges are earned in levels — everyone starts at stage 1, and the more a young person does, the higher the stage they climb to. Whether that's swimming further, learning more first aid, or spending more nights away under canvas, each new level replaces the one before it.

Best of all, they stick with them. The same badges run right across the sections — from Squirrels and Beavers, up through Cubs and Scouts and beyond — and when a young person moves up, their stage moves with them. The badge simply transfers onto the new section's uniform, so nobody ever starts again from scratch.

How the stages climb — Nights Away

1 night

100

200 nights

One night under canvas earns stage 1; keep camping and it climbs all the way to 200 — the same badge, just a higher stage each time.

There are 16 staged activity badges to work towards, at the section or at home:

Swimmer

Emergency Aid

Nights Away

Hikes Away

Navigator

Nautical Skills

Digital Citizen

Digital Maker

Community Impact

Musician

Air Activities

Sailing

Paddle Sports

Time on the Water

Snowsports

The Great Indoors

See all the staged activity badges →

Squirrels Beavers Cubs Scouts Explorers

4–6 years

Coming soon

Squirrels badges

Squirrels is where it all begins — and the badges start straight away. They’re big, bright and easy to be proud of: a reminder of something a 4–6 year old tried for the very first time. Here’s what a Squirrel can collect, the Acorn Award to aim for, and where it all goes on the red jumper.

We’re not running a Drey just yet. These are the real, official Squirrels badges and awards — here so you can see what’s coming. Register your interest →

Top award

Chief Scout’s Acorn Award

The Acorn Award is the highest a Squirrel can earn. To get there they complete all four Challenge Awards, plus any two activity badges of their choice. If they don’t quite finish before they move up, they can complete it during their first term at Beavers — and wear it on their Beaver jumper until they earn their Bronze Award.

See the full requirements

Building up to the top award

The four Challenge Awards

Each Challenge Award is a little adventure of its own — getting to know themselves, the world around them, their friends, and the outdoors. Collect all four and a Squirrel earns their Acorn Award.

All About Me

All Around Us

All Together

All About Adventure

Types of badge

What they can earn

Activity Badges

Earned for giving something a go — building, cooking, getting outdoors, making things or looking after nature. There are 13 to collect, and they can be worked on at the Drey or at home.

Staged Activity Badges

Skills they build up over time, one stage at a time — like nights away, swimming or first aid. Squirrels start at stage 1, and the stage they reach carries on with them into Beavers.

Challenge Awards

The four bigger awards at the heart of the Squirrel programme. Each takes a bit more effort across lots of activities, and together they build towards the Acorn Award.

Core & Moving-On Badges

The badges that mark the journey itself — the Membership Award after making the Squirrel Promise, a Joining In Award each year, and the Moving On Badge when it’s time to hop up to Beavers.

Activity badges

A collage of badges to earn

13 activity badges Squirrels can work towards — each one earned for trying out a new skill, hobby or adventure.

On the uniform

Where badges go

Here’s where each badge sits on the Squirrel jumper — the identity badges everyone wears, plus everything your Squirrel earns along the way. Hover or tap any badge to see exactly where it belongs.

Hover or tap a badge to see where it goes. Left and right are from the wearer’s point of view.

Squirrel Scouts jumper with the scarlet group necker

Real artwork is shown where we have it. Positions marked “Position guide” don’t have badge artwork in our library yet.

See the Squirrels uniform guide →

6–8 years

Beavers badges

From their very first weeks in the Colony, Beavers start earning badges — little round reminders of something they’ve tried, learned or had a go at. Here’s what they can collect, the top award to aim for, and where it all goes on the jumper.

Top award

Bronze Chief Scout’s Award

The Bronze Award is the highest a Beaver can earn. To get there they complete all six Beaver Challenge Awards, plus four activity or staged activity badges of their choice — usually over their time in the Colony.

See the full requirements

Building up to the top award

The six Challenge Awards

Each Challenge Award is a mini-adventure in itself. Collect all six and a Beaver earns their Bronze Award.

Adventure

Outdoors

Skills

Teamwork

World

Personal Challenge

Types of badge