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Scout Uniform

Placement of insignia on the uniform is important.
The Uniform Inspection Sheet has insignia placement guides.
There is also a Male & Female Leader Uniform Inspection Sheet.

If you wonder where a patch goes, it is probably a 'temporary' patch. See Scouting FAQ page for help - they can be displayed on a blanket, vest, wall display, shoebox, or the back of the merit badge sash.

See the BSA Insignia Guide for more information on uniforms, patches, and such.

The Scouting program in America has always included uniforms for its members and volunteers to identify members and show they are part of the Boy Scouts of America. Scouts and leaders should wear their uniforms to all patrol meetings, troop meetings, and scout outings.

The tan and green Scouts BSA uniform is a well-known symbol of American scouting. All scouts in the program wear the same uniform with the major differences being the badges each scout has earned and the troop specific neckerchief.

Most scout troops also have an activity uniform which is often a t-shirt customized just for the troop. Activity uniforms are worn for work projects, sporting activities, and other events in which the dress uniform might get damaged. The official dress uniform is commonly referred to as the 'Class A' uniform and the activity uniform as 'Class B' even though these are not correct BSA terms.

The best place to buy customized scouting t-shirts is the ClassB.com web site. ClassB.com is an official licensee of the Boy Scouts of America and is actually run by a few Eagle Scouts.

Each scout belongs to a patrol within the troop. To foster patrol identity, each patrol chooses a Patrol Patch and creates a patrol flag, name, and yell.

Sashes and Such
The BSA Insignia Guide discusses all the uniforming, patch placement, and other insignia use.
Merit badge placement on the sash is up to the scout. The badges can be displayed in rows of two or three, starting three inches down from the top of the sash.
There is no required ordering of badges. The scout can put all silver-bordered Eagle-required badges first, followed by green-bordered elective badges. Or, display them alphabetically, or by favorites, or by color, or in the order earned (which is most common).
When the front of the sash is full, additional merit badges can be displayed on the back or on a second or third sash.

The merit badge sash is worn draped over the right shoulder and left hip.
Only ONE sash is worn at a time.
A second sash is NOT worn over the shoulder, nor tucked into the belt.
The same is true for Order of the Arrow sashes. The scout wears either a merit badge sash OR OA sash, but not more than one sash at a time.

These two sashes show merit badges in rows of three. They belong to my two Eagle sons. One has all his Eagle-required badges on top, the other just has them as earned.

Boy Scout Uniform Costs
shirt	necker	slide	shoulder loops	cap	belt	zip-off pants	socks	book
$30-$45	$10-$15	$6	$4	$15	$0	$35-$45	$8	$18
(BSA zip-off pants give you long and short pant uniforms, plus a belt) Uniform Patches
World Scout Crest Emblem								$2.30
Council Strip								$1.50 - $6.00
Troop Number								$4.50
Patrol Emblem								$2.50
Total Uniform Cost							about $150 to $185

Uniform details, price changes, and other scouting gear is found at ScoutShop.Org - and you can now purchase online.

Retrieve a list of Scout shops and distributors in your area at this Scout Store Locator

Scout Uniform Savings

These uniforms are a significant cost for many scouting families. Some possible ways to reduce costs are:

Have your scout earn the uniform or part of it.
Purchase only minimum expected items in your troop.
Check with your troop or district about a Uniform Exchange where you can pick up or drop off uniforms.
Buy used Scout items at local clothes store.

Comments:
Jan 26, 2017 - DCScoutMom

Question: my son recently passed his Board of Review and will be receiving his Eagle Scout award this weekend. We discovered too late that his tan class A is way too small. But he has his Venture shirt from working at summer camp at Spanish Peaks. He is now over 18 and his COH was rushed and planned very quickly with no time to get a new tan class A. Is it appropriate for him to wear the green uniform shirt with his merit sash or OA sash for his Eagle ceremony?

Jan 29, 2017 - Scouter Paul

@DCScoutMom - He should not wear his OA sash to an Eagle ceremony since that is only for when he is performing an OA function.
He can wear his Venture uniform, or borrow a better-fitting Boy Scout uniform from a friend.

Mar 03, 2017 - Lynn

When is the appropriate time and place to where the merit badge sash? Where can I find the official policy regarding this?

Mar 03, 2017 - Scouter Paul

@Lynn - The merit badge sash can be worn whenever the uniform is worn, but it is not practical to wear it most of the time because it gets in the way. Courts of honor, boards of review, and other more formal events are when scouts usually wear a sash.
If you follow the link to the BSA Insignia Guide in the page content above, you'll find the official BSA policy - which does not mention when to wear and when not to wear the sash.

May 30, 2017 - District Commish

Can a Scout who is not an American citizen wear their respective nation’s flag on the Boy Scout uniform, and if so, where? I know that the American flag has been on the BSA uniform since the 70’s. Many non-American scouts who are part of a local pack, troop, or crew here in Europe do render respect to the flag and national anthem by standing but do not salute (though some do).

I checked and there is no specific mentioning of this in any of the BSA guidelines that I checked.

Jun 19, 2017 - Fabel Konicke

My son returned from Camp Geronimo with a whole bag of badges and rings... I don't know what to do with them? three badges, Camp Geronimo 2017, Rainbow Trail and for the Tenderfoot Run; as well as the rings, Big "G" Gold, Brave, Tiger Eye, East Webber, Geronimo Trail Tenderfoot Run, Turkey Springs and one with just symbols (??) maybe Scout to Tenderfoot? Anyway - Any help is appreciated.

Jun 20, 2017 - Scouted Paul

@Fabel - best thing to do in your case is have your scout ask his scoutmaster where the patches go. There is probably a patch scheme document from the camp that explains where they go and you might even find that on the camps website, of they have one.

Dec 21, 2017 - Eli

Where do the fireman chit, totin chip, and cyber chip go on the uniform?

Dec 21, 2017 - Scouter Paul

@Eli - They are all 'temporary' patches and one at a time can be displayed centered on the right pocket.

Dec 26, 2017 - Lisa

Would I wear a scout uniform to a boy scout camp interview?

Dec 27, 2017 - Scouter Paul

@Lisa - If you're a registered BSA member, then it sounds like a good idea to wear your uniform for the interview.

Apr 11, 2018 - Larry Cox

Hi! I'm 62, a Eagle, and returning to Scouting to assist my 2 older grandsons in their troop and 2 younger ones still in Cubs. Silly question, but I don't remember if we wore a colored tee under our uniform. I'm now nearly blind... scanning through all the posts on your site... lol, but please what's required, or what works best? Is it any different for adults? And as a foot note... we all wear cleanly pressed full uniforms to each troop and Pack function. And it's awesome!! I was taught to lead by example. and I had outstanding leaders. thank you

Apr 13, 2018 - Scouter Paul

@Larry - you can wear another layer under your uniform shirt if you want. It's not part of the uniform, but is useful when outdoors in cooler weather, or just for comfort.

Apr 17, 2018 - Larry Cox

Scouter Paul,
Thank you! Our troop doesn't wear (or require) a neckerchief's with the uniform which makes certain tees, well...awful as a choice. With no guidance the boys tend to go for any tee, often their brightest neon colors from their dresser, which keeps them warmer and more comfortable wearing a tee, but looks yucky... Of course easiest answer is to just wear neckerchiefs which hides the tees, so hopefully the troop will reconsider one day!

May 10, 2018 - Scouty Ed

Hi Everyone, I am looking for BSA language that addresses footwear. I currently have two brothers in my troop who in my opinion are lazy, they refuse to wear shoes to the troop meetings and wear white socks with flip flops and on uniform inspection night they wear black shocks and black Nike type shower slip on flip slops, whats more they cannot participate in troop games or activities when we climb a lashing tower. IS THERE ANY RULES that we can make them wear closed toed shoes beside a troop rule because my committee fears kickback. Thanks and look forward to your email -Scouty Ed- Troop 111

May 14, 2018 - Scouter Paul

@Ed - You can see in the Uniform Inspection Sheet that BSA socks and brown leather or canvas shoes are expected. But, there is no requirement that scouts wear uniforms in order to be BSA members. When adult volunteers start making up rules for scouts, it tends to not work out well.

If their lack of appropriate footwear causes their patrols to perform poorly in contests with other patrols, then maybe their patrolmates would encourage them to change. For example, some simple recognition for the patrol with the highest percentage of scouts climbing the tower or participating in the game - their patrol could never get it without them participating.

Or, maybe there is some other reason besides laziness why they wear what they wear. A caring adult volunteer might try to find out the reason.

Dec 15, 2018 - LLM

@ Scout Mom, Old-fashioned 02/21/12- I came to this page to read more about ordering pieces of the Scout Uniform and sadly at the top of this thread I ran into a post from Scout Mom questioning a photo of a possible "Scout or model?" (rhetorical statement), Scout Mom writes a long post lecturing her own parenting and upbringing in a Dutch household... No other comment I ran across covered a subject like this and I'm wondering why admin left this on the thread. I would like to read comments based on actual inquires and answers (Q&A) not a commentary thread... My point is, does this thread have an admin who removes posts that aren't relevant?

Dec 16, 2018 - Scouter Paul

@LLM - Sometimes comments are just comments, not questions or answers. If someone has a view or comment, and it is related to the page content and is not inflammatory, then it does no harm. I try to weed out off-topic, meaningless, or inappropriate comments.

Mar 01, 2019 - Xine

My daughter is a member of a new Scouts BSA troop. I'm getting ready to finish up her uniform and want to make sure I'm putting the items on the left sleeve correctly. I can't find anywhere that shows the red Founder bar. Is it supposed to be touching the troop numerals? Also, her shirt is one of the microfiber ones with a "cuff" of sorts around the bottom of the sleeve. There doesn't really appear to be room for her council patch, the troop numbers, the Founder bar, her position patch, and her Trained patch. Can the Trained patch go on top of the "cuff" part?

Mar 02, 2019 - Wife

My husband wants me to sew his Eagle Scout patch onto his jean jacket. Is this appropriate? If so, where is the proper placement? He is not involved in a troop anymore. He just wants to wear the patch. Thank you for feedback.

Mar 04, 2019 - Scouter Paul

@Wife - No, it's not appropriate to display BSA uniform patches on other clothing.

Mar 04, 2019 - Scouter Paul

@Xine - Yes, the Founders Bar goes directly under the unit numerals, touching is fine. The Trained patch can be sewn on the cuff part.

Apr 03, 2019 - DH

My son has been to every BSA meeting for over a year and there is an attendance pin/medal you can get for doing this. It hasn't been awarded to him so do I have to buy it? Also, where should it go?

Apr 03, 2019 - Scouter Paul

@DH - If you are asking about the Attendance Pin then it goes above the left pocket. There are no set requirements for earning it, so it is up to the scout's troop to decide how to earn it. And, anyone can purchase it from the Scout Shop.
If your scout is interested in earning it, he should ask his Scoutmaster what requirements the troop has for earning it.

Scout On!

Apr 24, 2019 - Ken

Is a Scouts BSA rank insignia centered vertically as well as horizontally as depicted on the Uniform Inspection Sheet (www.boyscouttrail.com/docs/uniform_boy.pdf), or is it positioned just beneath the pocket flap as depicted on page 32 of the Guide to Awards and Insignia (filestore.scouting.org/filestore/pdf/ 33066/33066_Scouts_BSA_Insignia_WEB.pdf)? These both appear to be official sources but they clearly contradict each other. Thanks!

Apr 24, 2019 - Scouter Paul

@Ken - Both those docs, as well as any other I've seen, say "centered" on left pocket. I believe the placement in the images you referenced is only the artist's interpretation of 'centered'.
Some shirt pockets are now flat, rather than pointed. Some are billowed, rather than sewn flat. So, the exact vertical center is different on different pocket types.
Centering the patch in the available horizontal and vertical space is the goal.

Apr 24, 2019 - Ken

@Scouter Paul, thanks for the speedy response and good info! Now my son (a 4th generation Scout) will be "official" for his first Troop campout this weekend!

Apr 24, 2019 - Ken

@Scouter Paul, I looked at these again, and in both instances the pocket is the same, but the patch is positioned differently. If Scouts BSA has an official position on the position, they should depict that in all official materials.

I understand that pockets have changed, but in this instance Scouts BSA specifically demonstrates two different ways to vertically "center" the patch on the same pocket. I will make a judgment call so that my son can wear his rank, but Scouts BSA can't expect an exacting result quite in accordance with it's unexacting instruction. Centered between the top and bottom of the pocket would result in the flap overlapping the rank on a "square" pocket. The official guide to insignia and the inspection sheet depict the same pocket but with the rank insignia in different positions, one centered between the flap tip and the bottom, and one just below. I stand by the notation Scouts BSA is disseminating conflicting information.

Thanks for your work on this question, but it appears we get to pick individually what it means since vertical centering isn't even well defined by official Scouts BSA rules and literature.

But just to be clear, am I to take away that we can't trust the official Scouts BSA insignia rules and guidelines and instruction sheets, nor the inspection sheets, since they are just "artist's interpretations?"

I think our kids and we as Scooters deserve better than that for direction on badge placement

Apr 24, 2019 - Scouter Paul

@Ken - Using your judgment is a good idea. Center the patch as best you can, and I believe it will be fine.
I think the BSA is not too concerned about a patch being 1/4 or 1/2 inch off center, but if you feel that this lack of specific information needs correction, please contact the BSA at this address.

Apr 25, 2019 - Ken

@Scouter Paul, thanks, and I hope I didn't sound like I was unloading on you. You are innocent! I am frustrated that Scouts BSA would issue a regulation for patch placement showing where to put it and then provide an inspection sheet that gigs every Scout who followed the regulation. I will contact them and ask for standardization on direction. Thanks, @Scouter Paul! Your website is priceless to me!

Apr 25, 2019 - Ken

And just for giggles, Scouts BSA requires the Service Stars to be 3/8 of an inch above your square knots or your pocket if you don't have any knots. I'd argue that with that level of specificity to the eighth of an inch that Scouts BSA can do for service stars, they can do better than 1/4 to 1/2 of an inch on badge placement. I'll contact them.

Oct 09, 2019 - Jen

Do female uniform tops have to be tucked in because they’re cut with the helm that will not allow it to stay tucked in

Oct 11, 2019 - Jane

@Jen - "Effective Oct. 1, 2013, the official stance on the Boy Scouts of America’s uniform policy is that shirts and blouses are to be worn tucked in, regardless of whether the wearer is a Cub Scout, Scout, Sea Scout, Venturer, or adult Scouter. In the past, guidelines have simply stated the uniform wearer should be neat in appearance. Neatness includes tucking in the shirt or blouse. This update will appear in related resources, such as the uniform inspection sheets, as they are revised and printed."

BSA Guide to Awards and Insignia: Official Policy
www.scouting.org/resources/insignia-guide/

BSA says uniform shirts should always be tucked in
blog.scoutingmagazine.org/2013/10/09/tuck-everlasting-scout-uniform-shirts-should-always-be-tucked-in-bsa-says/

Oct 19, 2019 - Heather Cullen

My son is the troops bugler. Where does this BIG bugler patch go?

Oct 19, 2019 - Scouter Paul

The 3-inch diameter bugler patch goes in the badge of office spot (also referred to as 'position 3') - see the Insignia Guide.

Oct 24, 2019 - Mick Epperson

Keep up the good work Scouter Paul. To all out there that a all up in arms about centering. Get a grip. Pick the vertical center, make it look good up and down a let your son go to the meeting, outing, ceremony or whatever. Scouting is about building Youth to be good citzens and ready to face the world. Not to get them ready to be in the Russian Army. Relax Ken. Headquarters has enough to worry about concerning banktrupcy, gender equality, two adults in every tent, shoes or slippers (really? Make them do a 10 mile hike on a super rock trail).

Oct 29, 2019 - Richard Wilson

I understand it is important to be prepared and dress accordingly based on weather conditions. However, Is there an official BSA Rule/Guideline that states Boy Scout shorts are not to be worn as part of an official uniform after daylight savings? I cannot find any information with regards to this question, any info is greatly appreciated.

Oct 29, 2019 - Scouter Paul

@Richard - No, there is no such rule or guideline.

Dec 06, 2019 - Svitlana B

Is there specific color for the Boy Scouts socks? I can’t find this written anywhere. Last night , my son had his Board of review to Tenderfoot and he didn’t pass because he didn’t wear green socks as a part of uniform class A. I feel very sorry to him soooo much for two big reasons : 1. He was preparing himself to this step a lot. And being his mother, I tell you it meant to him very much. I was excited for him also that power of belief he had. And reason number 2 . I feel horrible because I have not provided him with the right things I should. And please, understand, I’m very much for personal discipline , an independent thinking , taking care of himself, etc. Anyway , please educate me at this point. Thanks a lot

Dec 06, 2019 - Navybone

The BoR cannot fail a scout for an uniform item. It specifically states as such at section 8.0.0.4 on the BSA Scouts web site about BoR.
See scouting.org/resources/guide-to-advancement/boards-of-review/

I would recommend that your son talk to the scoutmaster.

Dec 27, 2019 - Ruth

Ive just attended an Eagle CoH for 4 Eagle Scouts at a friend's troop. I was rather shocked by the uniform standard at such a prestigious event.... no neckerchiefs and scouts wearing jeans.
As a former ASM to a troop of high standards and the wife and stepmother of Eagles scouts, I was disappointed to see such a drop in standards.
Even the Scoutmaster was wearing jeans as she officiated the CoH (does that speak volumes?).
Her son was one to attain Eagle and at the end of the ceremony she announced she was stepping down as SM.
I bloater bumped into the new SM and was glad to see he was at least wearing the green pants. I asked him about the neckerchiefs and he said they were now optional and the troop voted not to wear them. Even for class A occasions. Likewise for the pants, green were optional, jeans were acceptable even for class A.
Is this the new BSA standard or is it just that troops?!
Does anyone else think this is a terrible drop in standards?
Thank you.

Jan 05, 2020 - John

Richard,

Down here in Florida, shorts are very common year-round. Scout or green (close color) shorts are pretty much what my Troop of 25 wears year-round.

Jan 05, 2020 - John

Ruth,

My Troop hasn't had a neckerchief for years. As a Scout-run organization, the Troop decided that they didn't want to have them several years ago (before my oldest joined) and every so often they have another vote. And, as far as I can tell, that's perfectly permitted. In the area (SW Florida), I'd say less than half don't have neckerchiefs.

Jeans are frowned upon; if not Scout shorts/pants, then at least green shorts/pants close in color. Could it be an economical issue?

Jan 06, 2020 - Cole Kiser

My son just worked as a trainer for Winter NYLT. They were given special patches, slides, kerchiefs, belt buckles, nametags and epaulets, all these were mandatory for the trainers.
My question is whether the epaulets, which are a futuristic silver mesh, are legal since they were Scout issued at the camp?

May 13, 2020 - Joe

Do you know what insignia/patches are required for the Boy Scout Uniform Shirt? I can find a bunch of examples of where they should all be placed on the shirt, but nothing that states what is required on teh shirt.
Thank You, Joe

May 13, 2020 - Scouter Paul

@Joe - The only required insignia are the U.S. Flag and BSA strip that come included on the shirt. Typically, following are the key items that a scout would have displayed:
- Shoulder loops identifying the program (Cubs, Scouts BSA, Venturing)
- Council emblem
- unit numerals

Those items act kind of like the scout's "address" so others can see that the scout is in Scouts BSA Troop 123 in the XYZ Council.

Sep 20, 2020 - Gale Stanford

I have been told but cannot find in writing that the new BSA women's shirts are made in the style of the military shirts and are not to be worn tucked in. The shirts are short and tucking them in is next to impossible. Can you confirm whether or not that guidance is official. I understand the old uniform shirts are made to be tucked in but I believe that is not true for the new ones.

Sep 22, 2020 - Scouter Paul

@Gale - Currently, all BSA publications and uniform inspection sheets call for the shirt to be tucked in. When you can find a BSA source approving untucked shirts, please let me know and I'll help spread the word.

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