Adult Insignia Left Side Knot emblem "side"

In other words, "what side is up" in wearing the insignia. Lots of Scouters wear the insignia "upside down." Even the BSA shows some of the insignia "upside down" in their own official Uniform Guide and other publications.

These pages show the correct way, the way the BSA's National Uniform and Insignia Committee designed the various "knot emblems" are to be worn on any of the BSA's official uniforms. In order to do this, I had to obtain (either as part of my personal collection, knot insignia scanned and sent to me from Scouters holding the award, or asking various program and support divisions of the BSA to please send me a color copy or scan of the award's square knot emblem) each of the BSA's official knot emblems. I then scanned each right-side up, the way it should appear sewn on the uniform.

In this way, all you had to do was to compare your knot emblem to the screen of the pages (which by the way is indexed here ) and you will be able to wear the knot emblem correctly on your field uniform.

Barry wrote and asked:

locally there is confusion about what the 'distinguishing color' is. Is it the color of the loop over the standing part, or is it the standing part under the loop? i have surfed your very excellent web site and the insignia guide 1999-2001 and neither supports in a decisive manor which is right. i noticed in the descriptions of each award you have the standing part under the loop; e.g. silver beaver. could you remove this confusion in the manner of your advise in the "patch police" article please?

For the original square knot emblems, the "distinguishing color" is the color which is not white, red, or yellow. For instance, "distinguishing color" for the Scouters' Key Award is green, which means that the knot emblem is worn so that the green side is worn toward the wearer's right (and left as you look at the knot on my pages and the actual knot itself).

This is the way the Scouters' Key Award CORRECTLY shown	Scouters' Key Award INCORRECTLY shown

The Eagle Scout Award's "distinguishing color" is blue, which means that the knot emblem is worn so that the two blue tips are worn toward the wearer's right (again, left as you see the knot emblem displayed on my site and in real life).

In the case of the Silver Beaver Award knot emblem, the "distinguishing color" is light blue, and therefore it is worn so that the light blue side is worn toward the wearer's right (again left as you look at someone's uniform or looking at the actual knot.)

From the BSA's Insignia Guide, page 44:

"The loop of the embroidered square knot that comes in FRONT of the standing part (the part to the left as you are looking at it) is ALWAYS to the wearer's right." (In other words, the loop "tells you which side is "up" on the knot since it is always found on the LEFT SIDE AS YOU ARE LOOKING AT IT; and on the RIGHT SIDE AS YOU WEAR IT ON THE UNIFORM.)

This is an example of a George Meany Award knot which was made incorrectly. Note that the red side is on the wrong side. How can you tell?

This is how...note where the loop is and compare it to the first square knot above.

"In knots where both strands are the same color and therefore difficult to distinguish which strand comes in front, use the drawing shown on the page (or the actual scans of the emblems shown on my website) to determine wearer's right (where the loop is)."

and once again...

"Knots are worn with the distinguishing color (this is the color which makes up the main part of the ribbon of the award or which is NOT white, red or yellow (the most used colors with our knot emblems) toward the wearer's RIGHT ( and LEFT as you are looking at it either on the webpage, in a display case, or on a desk or table)."

I hope this helps you and other Scouters out in determining which way the BSA's various knot emblems are to be worn. I know, Barry..the BSA's Insignia Guide is confusing at best and difficult at worst....that's why I created the online version of the Guide and made as many of the emblems we wear scans instead of line art so that people can do what I stated earlier: line things up before sewing, and then look at the computer screen and then look at the emblem and match them up right-side up and correctly.

Thanks for asking!

Settummanque!

Back to The Tree
Insignia mainpage

© 2009 Settummanque!
Designed by Mike Walton

Created with the CoffeeCup HTML Editor
*Boy Scouts of America®, BSA®, the Universal Emblem, Arrow of Light®, Cub Scouts®, Eagle Scout®, Scouting®, Order of the Arrow® and all other related marks and insignia, are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Boy Scouts of America in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.*