"Square knot" insignia
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Insignia
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Council-approved knots
Local Council-approved "square knots"
These awards were created or used by local Councils to recognize their membership
in areas consistent with National programs. Wearing of these "knot emblems should be done after
consulting with your Council Scout Executive. These are NOT official
BSA knots, and are shown here only as illustration of what your Council may do to recognize
Scouts, Venturers and Scouters in ways that are in line with National programming or options.
If you have a rare Scouting award that you would like to share with the rest of the world, please
send a scanned copy of the insignia along with requirements or outlines for the presentation of
the award to me. I'll post it here and give you and/or your Council credit for the contribution.
ALL of this insignia are unauthorized for wear on the official
Scouting field uniforms unless a Council Scout Executive approves it (ONLY the Council's Scout Executive
can approve the wearing; he or she cannot delegate to a District Executive, a Field Director, or
even the Associate Scout Executive. BSA policy!)
District Scouter of the Year, Gamehaven Council
Information provided by Gamehaven Council, Rochester, Minnesota.
Worn by: Male and Female Scouters
Emblem Description:
The Gamehaven Scouter of the Year "knot" has a scout emblem encircled in red along
with the emblem of the Council also encircled in red.
Background/Justification:
The Gamehaven Council's "Scouter of the Year" recognition is presented to outstanding
unit Scouters and Unit Commissioners, voted on by their peers. Each Scouter of the Year
receives a plaque and is eligible to purchase and wear this special "knot emblem".
The "Scouter of the Year" recognition is intended to recognize outstanding service to
Scouting while serving as a unit volunteer or as a unit-serving commissioner.
It is not intended to be awarded based on popularity. Unit Scouters can recommend other
Scouters in their units once a year; the award is presented during District events or
during a special portion of the unit's recognition ceremony or dinner.
Bighorn District Scouter of the Year
Information provided by Craig Quist.
Worn by: Male and Female Scouters
Emblem Description:
The Bighorn District Scouter of the Year knot has a gray "figure eight" knot on a tan background with a
red border (district colors are red, gray and tan).
Background/Justification:
The Bighorn District "Scouter of the Year" recognition was initially started as part of the
Las Vegas Strip Kiwanis "Scouter of the Month" recognition program during
1992 thru 1996. The recipients of this award were selected by the Bighorn District - Commissioner Staff based on
service to Scouting within the Bighorn District.
Based on the need to continue recognizing outstanding
adult Scouters, the Bighorn District Committee has decided
to re-initiate this recognition program, with those receiving
the award to be selected by vote (one per unit) at the
District Dinner. Along with a plaque, the recipients will
also receive a patch that can be worn on the uniform,
indicating that recipient was previously selected for this honor.
The Bighorn District "Scouter of the Year" recognition is
intended to recognize outstanding service to Scouting in
the Bighorn District, either by younger or older Scouters,
and is not intended to be awarded based on popularity.
As this recognition is not as prestigious as the "Award
of Merit" recognition, it will be awarded before the "Award
of Merit" presentation at the annual district dinner.
Please let me know if you have any additional questions.
Silver Jackalope Award
Information provided by Arapahoe District, Denver Area Council.
Worn by: Male and Female Scouters, Male and Female Venturers
Emblem Description:
The square knot and border appears white; both turn dark blue when exposed to "black light" or darkened areas in much the same way that many
"ghost" Order of the Arrow flaps reveal their colors.
Background/Justification:
The Silver Jackalope Award was created to recognize individuals outside the District or outside the Denver
Area Council for their contributions toward the success of the Arapahoe District. They have provided special
tools, instruction, coaching or resources toward making the District one of the Denver Area Council's Quality
Districts. The Award was meant to keep Scouters from nominating individuals for District-level awards, thereby
keeping those awards for the volunteers within the District to receive.
The Award consists of a LARGE silver jackalope medallion suspended from a medium blue ribbon; a certificate;
and a special square knot with thread that "glows" in the dark after being subjected to constant light. The square knot
and border both turn dark blue when exposed to "black light" or darkened areas in much the same way that many
"ghost" Order of the Arrow flaps reveal their colors.
The District discontinued these awards in 2006.
Youth Leadership in America Award
Worn by: Male and Female Scouters and Venturing leaders
A separate page addresses this award in detail.
Tippey Award
Information provided by Tippey Reynolds.
Worn by: Male and Female Scouters
Emblem Description: black square knot on a orange background and border.
Background/Justification:
The knot is for adult leaders... (she didn't have any set requirements for the
award; from the description, it appears that it's just a gag thing to give to new
Scouters in her District)
Silver Alligator (Troop) Award
Information provided by Mark Nusekabel, SM Troop 339 .
Worn by: Male and Female Scouters
Emblem Description: The knot emblem is a triple sheet bend in white on a lime green
background.
Background/Justification:
The formal decoration is a silver medal suspended from a green neck ribbon.
The medal has a picture of the troop mascot imposed on it. The Silver Alligator Award, the highest
award that Troop 339 of Tampa, FL gives to an adult for outstanding service.
Silver Anchor Award (Sea Scout Ship 90 Award)
Worn by: Male and Female Sea Scouts, Male and Female Scouters
Emblem Description:
Background/Justification:
The Silver Anchor may be awarded to any Sea Scout or adult leader with
at least year of membership who is determined to be the most outstanding
and active in the Ship each year. A gold star may be affixed to the medal
ribbon in exceptional cases. The award is approved by the Skipper,
Mates, and Committee Chairman. (October 1968)
The square knot features a red and blue rope, with the red worn to the right,
on either a white or navy blue background. (Designed by Third Mate Kevin
Johnson) (February 1974)
Additional information provided through Sea Scout Ship 90
Traditional Sea Badge Emblem (unofficial)
Emblem Description: a white trident on a dark blue background
and dark blue border.
Worn by: Male and Female Sea Exploring Leaders and Scouters
Background/Justification:
Until 1992, there existed NO official Sea Badge "square knot" for holders of this special
training recognition; however, there has been several local creations of the Sea Badge "uniform
emblem" for wear alongside other square knots. The holders of the Sea Badge had no way
to wear the Sea Badge officially on the field uniform and has continuously sought to get the
BSA's Uniform and Insignia Committee to adopt a design. In 1992, the Committee finally did
accept the trident award design which has been used for years in unofficial versions of the
award.
The only problem was that the "uniform emblem" they created does not conform to
the size or height of other square knots, and while the symbolism (a blue trident on a grey (silver)
background and border) was notable, many Sea Badge holders have opted to wearing the
unofficial version (which is available in Sea Exploring blue as shown here; on white for the
Sea Exploring whites; and on tan for the tan Scouters' field uniform) instead of the "official
emblem" simply because it looks much better than the "something that looks like a trident"
official version.
(I am told that the the BSA will create a new square knot emblem using the old Trident emblem
while keeping the colors grey and blue).
Wood Badge emblem (unofficial)
Worn by: Male and Female (Sea Scouting) Wood Badgers
Emblem Description: Brown wood badge beads (there is also a three and four-bead
version of this insignia)
Background/Justification:
Because wearing any necklace-type device is potentially
dangerous on the water, several Sea Exploring leaders created the Wood badge emblem to be worn
informally on the Sea Scouting whites, blues and khahi/tan. This knot emblem comes in three
forms, which correspond to the two-bead, three-bead and four-bead necklaces worn by Wood
Badgers traditionally on the tan field uniform. Because the Wood Badge training recognition
IS the Wood Badge necklace, the National Uniform and Insignia Committee has steadfastly
denied repeated requests by the Sea Scouting community to create an official version of this
"knot"; however, local Councils do have the authority to authorize it's wear (as with other
local Council awards) by Sea Scouting or other leaders on the tan uniform.
Silver Scouter (College Scouter) Award
Version 1
Silver Scouter (College Scouter) Award
Version 2
Silver Scouter (College Scouter) Award
Current version
Worn by: Male and Female Scouters
Emblem Description: The original knot design was taken from the from the Scoutmaster Award of Merit knot with the square knot being silver
instead of white. (personal note: there's nothing wrong with your browser, I was only able to get part of the knot scanned.) The second
and final versions of the knot emblem feature a maroon and white knot emblem on a fully embrordered tan background (version 2) and
a nicer emblem on the generic "khaki-tan" background (current version, version 3).
Background/Justification:
Used at three colleges to recognize individuals for Scouting-like service to the campus community or to Scouting
in general between 1980 and 1998.
The Silver Scouter Award was shared between Eastern Kentucky, Boise State and Purdue Universities. Purdue called their award the
"College Scouter" award. The actual award consists of a university medallion (or the BSA generic silver award medallion) suspended from a
narrow maroon, white and maroon ribbon along with a certificate. Purdue used a different ribbon color combination but retained the
knot emblem. One award was to be presented yearly to a member of one of the on-campus Exploring units; another award to be presented
to an adult (21 or older) for their service to Scouting (not neccessarily on-campus) and a third award would be presented to a campus
leader whose service reflects that of similar type service attained by Scouting members or volunteers. Only one "set" of awards could be
presented yearly during Scouting Anniversary Month.
I have been told that this knot emblem is no longer available through Eastern Kentucky University, which is where I received the first two versions of
the knot from as the Silver Scouter program there along with the Explorer Post has been inactive since 1998. When I inquired if they started up the program
again in 2005, I was sent a small packet of knot emblems along with a note stating that the University was clearing out all of their old Exploring stuff and
since the BSA did away with "college Scouter reserve" Exploring units and they did not transition to the Venturing program, I was welcome to the knots.
I asked for one of the extra medallions as well and was told that there were none left.
Why Knot" (local Council adaptation)
Worn by: Male and Female Scouters
Emblem Description:
Background/Justification:
The "Why Knot" ("Why not?") was a "joke patch" which eventually became the prototype
for the Scoutmaster Award of Merit (now called the "Unit Leader Award of Merit").
It was said that during a visit to a local Council in the
Northeast Region early during his new tenure as Chief Scout Executive, Ben Love talked with
several uniformed Scouters. All of the Scouters were wearing this strange-looking square knot
and when Love asked "what's the knot for?", his staff members nor the Council Executive could
answer. So, Love asked the Scouters. The Scouters explained that new Scouters were
sometimes "put off" by older, more senior Scouters that seem to have "rows of those things"
on their shirts. So, in their District, they decided to include those new Scouters that have "stuck
around" for 18 months after being trained with a "why knot". When asked about the name, a
Scouter responded "why not? We have knots for everything else, why don't we recognize the
relatively new Scouter?" Love took this back to National, and later when discussions were being
made about the NESA Scoutmaster Award, he related the visit to that Council and asked "Why
don't we recognize EVERY Scoutmaster that have achieved a certain level early in their
tenure? It seems that they had the right idea, even if it was "just a joke"."
The difference between the "Why Knot" and the Scoutmaster Award of Merit is the color of
the background and border color (this is a off-white background, and the Scoutmaster Award of
Merit is on a tan background and border, the standard background and border of most Scout
knot emblems.
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