Venturing/Sea Scouting Insignia Question And Answers
Venturers and Venturing leaders have been asking and asking me to PLEASE include a section to answer some of the more frequently asked questions dealing with how to wear the uniforms, what goes on the uniforms, and the hows and whys of wearing the appropriate knot emblems representing the various Venturing and Scouting awards.
This page has been UPDATED TWICE as of April 8, 2002 to reflect the ongoing changes in the young adult section of the Boy Scouts of America's programming.
As this section matures, I'll add illustrations and some scans of the various uniforms and insignia unique to Venturing.
The basic rules of thumb in regard to Venturing are the following:
Venturing is not "senior Scouting". Venturing has it's own program objectives and even if your Crew is an outdoor Crew, you are part of Venturing's programming and NOT the Boy Scouting program. As a result, some of the options available to Boy Scouting (chiefly the Order of the Arrow) are NOT available to Venturers and Venturing leaders UNLESS they are also registered as Scouts/Varsity Scouts or Scouters. The OA flap MAY be worn by Venturers who have received the honor as Boy Scouts or Varsity Scouts.
With regard to "who wears what":
The POLICY (as explained by the Venturing Division Director and Associate Director, including an interview with me) is:
"A Venturing Crew or Sea Scout Ship chooses the uniform they wish to wear -- their "Distinctive Dress Identity" or DDI.
This DDI CAN be the official uniform designated for Venturers (the kelly green shirt and charcoal slacks or shorts).
It CAN be the Sea Scouting uniform (the blues or whites or both).
IT CAN NOT BE the khaki-tan uniform shirt with ANY kind of shoulder loops (green or otherwise). That shirt is reserved for Cub Scouting, Boy Scouting, and Varsity Scouting members and their adult counterparts as well as those Scouters serving Scouting in those two progams (Cub Scouting or Boy Scouting).
If chosen by the Crew, the kelly green Venturing shirt will be worn in a similar manner as the khaki-tan Boy Scout/Varsity Scout shirt. Green shoulder loops will be attached to the kelly green shirt if shoulder loops are present. Insignia will conform to the current Insignia Guide.
Adults in a Venturing Crew or Sea Scout Ship WEAR THE SAME UNIFORM AS THEIR YOUTH MEMBERS DO.
This means that if a Crew chooses the kelly green Venturing uniform then ALL ADULTS REGISTERED WITH THE CREW will wear the kelly green Venturing uniform.
Adults registered with the local Council or District and who work within Venturing have the PERSONAL OPTION of wearing either the kelly green or the traditional khaki-tan uniform shirts -- IN EITHER CASE WITH THE SILVER (or GOLD) shoulder loops and will NOT wear them with the green shoulder loops.
Once again: the green shoulder loops are to be worn ONLY WITH the kelly green Venturing shirt. Nothing else."
The above is the current policy, as stated by the Venturing Program Director and has been posted to several Venturing sites. I have this also on audio tape, so if there's any doubt as to what the policy is, I'll be happy to provide you with a copy of the tape.
Unfortunately, that's NOT the OFFICIAL policy because Scout Executives do NOT have it in writing. This will be corrected this spring, I have been told and ALL Venturing materials will reflect the OFFICIAL UNIFORMING POLICY as stated above.
What happened?? Where's the disconnect?? There's several Venturing publications (all which will be revised this spring and summer!) which state that the khaki-tan shirt and green shoulder loops will be worn by adults involved in Venturing.
So, you have the Director saying one thing (which there hasn't been any paper sent to the local Councils explaining this change in policy) and the materials (like the Insignia Guide) saying something else.
For that reason, I've kept the information as I have it on this site until last night, due to a large number of Council-level Scouters telling me the same thing that Mr. Holmes and Mr. Harris told me this past summer at the Jamboree.
This page will be eventually split out like the Cub and Boy Scouting pages and full color illustrations on how to wear the Venturing and Sea Scouting uniforms (thanks to models correcting wearing those uniforms from the Jamboree) will be illustrated.
The "G.O.L.D. Award" is NOT the same as the Gold Venturing Award. The Growth Opportunity in Leadership Development (or G.O.L.D) Award was an special award which youth members of Exploring units could earn. The Award was renamed and given a medallion and white ribbon; the previous name of the award was the Explorer Achievement Award and consisted of a lapel pin, certificate and knot emblem.
The Gold Venturing Award also consists of a medallion and certificate, but the award is ONLY available for Venturers to earn and is the intermediate step between the five Bronze Awards and the Silver Award. It is noted that while the requirements for the previous Growth Opportunity in Leadership Development Award and the present Gold Venturing Award are similar...but the two awards are NOT the same.
Youth members registered in Boy Scouting and Venturing do NOT wear the khaki-tan shirt with green shoulder loops. Youth members registered as Venture Patrol members do NOT wear the green shoulder loops with their uniform. If a youth member is a member of both Boy Scout/Varsity Scout unit AND a registered member of a Venturing Crew or Ship should own TWO shirts. One shirt should have the appropriate Boy Scout insignia and either the red shoulder loops (for Boy Scouting) or the blaze shoulder loops (for Varsity Scouting). The other shirt should be a kelly green Venturing shirt with the green shoulder loops.
The old "Explorer" kelly green shirts ARE appropriate wear for youth members to wear in a pinch; however, every effort should be made to purchase the newer shirts with the shoulder loops. The shoulder loops identify the program area in which the youth are operating within however the kelly green shirt also distinguishes the youth involved in Venturing from those involved in either Boy or Varsity Scouting.
There were other questions which sprang from the above points:
Jamie (Venturing2k) wrote and asked several series of questions:
Three people, in my crew, were awarded the Explorer G.O.L.D. Award prior to December, 1999. Are they still permitted to wear the red, white and blue Knot for this award on their Venturing Spruce green uniform shirt? If so, should they wear it with the Explorer miniature device on it?
Yes to both. They should wear the red, white, and blue "Exploring program knot" on their Venturing kelly green (not spruce green; the color is kelly green) shirt; and yes, to distinguish their earning the Growth Opportunity in Leadership Development Award (the real name of the G.O.L.D. Award), they should wear the small EXPLORER device centered on the knot emblem.
The same rule applies if they have received the earlier Explorer Achievement Award. There are SOME Explorers whom are now Venturers or Scouters whom have earned BOTH Explorer Achievement AND G.O.L.D. Awards, in which they should wear TWO Explorer devices centered side-by-side on the square knot emblem.
Why are there military ribbon style awards for the Venturing Bronze and Gold Awards, a knot for the Venturing Silver Award and a metal bar for the Ranger Award?
The military-style ribbons are an holdover from the earlier Exploring days, in which Law Enforcement and Outdoor Explorers had an option to develop awards which would be ribbons to wear on their Distinctive Dress Identity (DDI) outfits. The Venturing Division is considering developing special bronze, gold and silver versions of the Venturing emblem for wear on the kelly green uniform instead of the ribbons; however, they have not had enough input from you and other Venturers. I'll explain that more at the end.
The Silver Award has a square knot associated with it because it is considered the highest youth award in the Venturing program, similar to the Boy Scouts' Eagle Scout Award. Ranger has the top bar for the time being only because there are not a lot of Rangers...Ranger is NOT the "highest award in Venturing" but rather a special honor earned by ANY Venturer or Sea Scout. There is a lot of talk in the Venturing world about bringing back the Ranger square knot (which hasn't been used since the middle 50s) for those holders....but it's just talk right now. There's only like 45 or 60 Rangers (depending on whom you talk with) so far.
Wouldn't it make more sense to have knot awards for all of these? It seems to me that a new knot could be instituted for the Bronze award, the G.O.L.D. Award (Explorer Achievement) Knot could be used for the Gold Award and the old Ranger Award Knot could be reinstituted for the Ranger Award. Our crew doesn't like the ribbon awards or the bars because they don't stand up to field use.
No, it wouldn't make any sense for a square knot emblem for the Bronze and Gold Awards. Remember, the purpose of the square knot insignia is to represent special awards earned or received by Scouts, Venturers, and Scouters. Bronze and Gold are advancement steps leading to Silver, Quartermaster and Ranger. That's the reason why those three awards have square knots associated with their awards and the other steps do not. I would suggest that your Crew don't wear the ribbon bars during field usage...I have another suggestion below...
Are there plans for a knot for the Venturing Leadership Award?
Nope. There was no knot emblem for those holders of the Exploring Leadership
Award; the Venturing Leadership Awards are equal to the older Exploring Leadership
Awards. There are simply very few Venturers and Venturing adults receiving those
awards.
(a small note: last fall, there was a proposal to the BSA's National Uniform and
Insignia Committee for a special knot emblem to represent holders of the Venturing
or the older Exploring Leadership Awards. I don't have a present status on it except
it is being reviewed)
Is it permissible to wear Venturing Awards on a Boy Scout uniform?
The square knot insignia representing the Silver and Ranger Awards and the Ranger Bar may indeed be worn on the Boy Scout uniform in the same location as other square knot insignia. However, all other Venturing awards for youth belong on the youth Venturing uniform.
Why?? Because the special Venturing uniform was designed for and to distinguish Venturers from Boy/Varsity Scouts in the same way that the blue Cub Scout uniform is made to distinguish Cub Scouts from Boy/Varsity Scouts.
Do Venturers, who have earned the Arrow of Light, wear the insignia under the shirt pocket or as a knot? Do Eagle Scouts wear the pocket patch or the knot?
Youth members wear the youth awards, which is why Venturing does not have a cloth patch for the Bronze, Gold and Silver Awards (although the BSA is considering such a emblem). Therefore, Eagle Scouts wear the Eagle Scout cloth patch and Arrow of Light holders wear the Arrow of Light under the Boy Scout rank cloth patch. Remember, male Venturers can still earn Star, Life and Eagle and Eagle Palms even though they are not parts of Boy Scout or Varsity Scout units.
How about Order of the Arrow insignia and sashes? Since a Venturer can't be elected into OA by his Venturing Crew, can a member wear the insignia and sash with his Venturing uniform?
Yes, Order of the Arrow insignia is appropriate for wear with the Venturing uniform, as it is with the Boy Scout uniform. The only thing is that as you've noted, Venturers and Sea Scouts cannot be elected to the Order of the Arrow because the OA is a Boy Scout program option. However, Venturing OA members CAN wear the Arrow pin, the Founders' pin, and/or the local OA Lodge flap with the Venturing uniform.
Is a young woman, under the age of 21, eligible for adult membership in the Order of the Arrow if she is a registered adult Boy Scout Leader and otherwise meets the requirements?
NO, according to the Venturing Division. Young females under 21 are considered YOUTH MEMBERS of Venturing units. In order for an adult to be considered for Order of the Arrow membership and under the age of 21 years of age, she must be registered as an Assistant Scoutmaster AND meet the same requirements for Order membership as youth members do less the First Class Boy Scout/Varsity Scout rank. The Order of the Arrow is a BOY/VARSITY SCOUTING PROGRAM OPTION. Males and females 21 and over whom are serving within the Boy Scout or Varsity Scout program or within the local Council or a District may be selected to be considered for membership in the Order of the Arrow. Cub Scouting and Venturing/Sea Scouting leaders, even those 21 or older, may NOT be selected.)
Branden Morris brought a little clarity to what is stated above:
Women under the age of 21 cannot be elected to the Order of the Arrow. Remember that "youth" in the OA is under the age of 21, not 18. To be elected as a youth, you need to have (among the camping requirements) the First Class Rank. An assistant Scoutmaster in a troop can vote in an OA election, and if he's not already a member of the Order of the Arrow, can be elected as a youth up until his 21st birthday, if he meets the youth requirements -- including holding the First Class Rank.
A female ASM under the age of 21, since she cannot possibly be a First Class Scout, cannot be elected into the Order until she's 21, and nominated as an adult.
(thanks, Branden!)
Thanks again for asking these great questions....hope that they can help. Now here's the suggestions I had talked about earlier:
*First, get involved in Venturing within your Council...Venturing is still considered a BRAND NEW PROGRAM, and although they are using many of the old "Exploring" rules to make it work, the goal of the Venturing Division is to make it as new a program as possible. So your comments about how badly the ribbons don't hold up should be made known to Brad Harris, the Venturing Program Director. Write him directly...he has an email address, but I don't have permission to give it out to everyone:
Venturing Program Division S 214
National Office - Boy Scouts of America
1325 West Walnut Hill Lane
Irving, TX 75038-2079
Hey Jamie!
You had a few more questions for me:
Liz is a Girl Scout drop-out but she received the GSA Gold award prior to becoming a Venturer. Is there a place for her to wear her award? (GSA says that it is equivalent to the Eagle Scout Award.)
Yes. Have Liz to wear the Gold Award centered on the right pocket of her uniform shirt. The GSUSA used to have a small pin or device that, IF YOUR COUNCIL SCOUT EXECUTIVE APPROVES IT, can be worn on the left pocket flap of the uniform shirt.
Some Scout Executives will say "no problem" while others will balk and say "the only insignia that needs to be on the BSA uniform are BSA insignia." So ask him or her (don't ask your District Executive, Jamie...make an appointment or call your COUNCIL Scout Executive. He or she and ONLY he or she can make this decision. Nobody else) about wearing the pin on the left pocket flap. The large First Class and now Gold Award patch should be worn, however, centered on the right pocket regardless (you don't need his or her permission for this...*any patch* (to include non-BSA patches) can be worn in that location.
The President's Sports Award, the President's Gold Community Service Award, and the Presidential Physical Fitness Award have all been earned by most members of our crew (Yeah were busy and motivated.) Is it permissible for them to wear these pins on their Venturing Uniform?
Yes, but only on the right pocket, since all of those awards are considered temporary awards. I don't think anyone would be bent out of shape if you wore all three pins together on the pocket...
Do Venturers wear sashes with their uniform?
Officially, no. Unofficially, there's gotta be SOMEPLACE for the MALES ONLY to wear merit badges with the uniform formally. There's not a Venturing merit badge sash out there...there's some of the older kelly green Exploring sashes around, but not a whole lot of them.
Females cannot wear merit badge sashes AT ALL, though, because females cannot be awarded merit badges. The merit badge program is basically a Boy Scout/Varsity Scout program.
How about the red shirt-jac for Venturers?
Yep. Instead of wearing the oval BSA emblem, you wear the white, green and black square Venturing BSA emblem centered on the left pocket of the jac-shirt.
And some information from Jamie and her Crew:
Thank you very much for your reply! You're answers are a great help to me.
The Monterey Bay Area Council has been blessed to get a jump start on the Venturing Program. Two summers ago, representatives from National BSA came to Monterey to conduct photo shoots to promote the new program. Several of the youth depicted in various Venturing literature are youth from our council.
I am the girl in the scuba gear on the front of the Silver Award pamphlet and I appear in several other manuals and posters.
My crew, Venturing Crew 2000, has embraced the Venturing program and we have excelled in our achievements: We have one Silver, three Gold and 16 Bronze Awards along with four Ranger and three Venturing Leadership Awards (one adult & two Youth). Five of our boys are Eagle Scouts and two others are completing their requirements.
Crew 2000 has all of our youth earn the President's Community Service Award and every member has graduated from the White Stag JLT offered by our council.
Thank you again.
YIS (Yours in Scouting)
Jamie
Julius Jackson wrote and asked me:
Hi my name is Julius Jackson. I am an Eagle Scout and Ranger in the East Texas Area Council. I also hold the Exploring Gold award , 4/5 Bronze Awards, and the Silver Award.
Slightly busy, eh?? *smiling*
Tell me about the Young American Award and how does it fit into the BSA
Actually, Julius, there are THREE VERSIONS of the Young American Award.
The Young American Awards for Service and for Bravery were originally presented yearly to two young people between 15 and 22 from each of the 50 states by the U.S. Department of Justice. The BSA took over the award in 1972, and made the first national awards in 1973. Each local Council can also make awards to young people - males and females - residing in their Council territory. I have received a national Young American Award for Community Service in 1978 and two Councils have honored me with their Young American Awards for Community Service and for Technology in 1976 and 1977.(five plaques).
The local Council award consists of a plaque; the national award consists of a certificate and a lucite plaque. In 1980, the Exploring Division gave local Councils the option of presenting the lucite plaques instead of the wooden plaques.
In 1997, the BSA decided that those Explorers who have received the Young American Award (local or national), would be able to wear the "Exploring awards knot emblem" on either the kelly green or khaki-tan field uniforms. Unfortunately, the words fell on deaf ears as the BSA later moved to split Exploring into Venturing and to Learning for Life/Exploring the following year.
Venturers who have received the Young American Award can wear the red, white, blue and silver square knot emblem; Learning for Life/Explorers cannot wear the knot emblem (because they do not wear BSA uniforming).
I have one. It consists of a Silver medallion suspended from a red, white, and blue neck ribbon. It is a special award!
You're lucky to have the new award, Julius. I just got the plaques...it's nice, but it's just a plaque. Congrats!!
I had heard that it's equal to an adult earning the Silver Buffalo. Is that true? Can I wear the Silver Buffalo knot on my shirt?
No, it's not equal in any way to the Silver Buffalo. The Silver Buffalo is presented to BSA volunteers ONLY for service to youth on a national scale. The National Young American Awards are presented to outstanding YOUTH (not necessarily BSA members!!) for achievement in one of several areas. But you're right when you say that it's a special award...it is indeed a special award!!
Because there's already a knot emblem to wear, Julius, I would go out and get a couple for your uniforms. Just as an aside, the same knot emblem is worn by holders of the Exploring Achievement Award (with a small Exploring device in the center of the knot), the Growth Opportunity in Leadership Development (G.O.L.D., NOT to be confused with the present Venturing Gold - also worn with a small Exploring device in the center of the knot emblem) Award, the Young American Awards and the National Exploration Awards (the Young American and National Exploration Awards do not have devices, which tells the difference between them and the other older Exploring awards).
You are an impressive young man, Julius!! I am hopeful that the two of us sometime can meet together and I can personally shake your hand...for you have done so many things that your peers are just now thinking about.
I've been doing some research and phone calling...this the latest from the BSA's Insignia guys:
Generalmarr wrote and asked me:
Does a 19 year old Venturer wear the Eagle knot or the badge on his pocket? He is an adult in Boy Scouting, but a youth in Venturing. Same for the Arrow of Light award. Knot or patch under the pocket?
He is considered a YOUTH member of the Boy Scouts of America; therefore, YOUTH AWARDS (the Eagle Scout cloth badge and the Arrow of Light cloth badge) are to be worn as if he was wearing the khaki-tan Scout uniform shirt. No exceptions.
A Venturer who is in a Search & Rescue Venturing Crew is also registered in an associated Law Enforcement Post (LFL). He has earned Eagle Scout, Venturing Bronze, Gold and Silver Awards and he has earned Law Enforcement Proficiency, Academy and firearms ribbons (military style). May he display the Explorer ribbons on his Venturing uniform? Are the Venturing Awards appropriate to his Explorer uniform?
I'll take that in reverse order, Tom. The Explorer "uniform" (DDI, or Distinctive Dress Identity) is highly dependent upon the chartered organization and the youth members of the Post. Therefore, if it is okay with both Law Enforcement officials AND with the youth leadership of the Post, he can wear any or all of the Venturing awards on his uniform.
The Exploring ribbons are NOT to be worn with the Venturing uniform. He can wear of course the Bronze, Gold and Silver Awards along with the Eagle Scout cloth badge, but the Exploring ribbons cannot be worn with the BSA Venturing uniform.
What Venturing or Explorer awards are appropriate for display on his Boy Scout uniform when he acts as an Assistant Scoutmaster?
He should wear the khaki-tan uniform with the appropriate BSA insignia denoting his role as Assistant Scoutmaster.
On the khaki-tan uniform, he wears the square knot insignia representing the Silver, Eagle and Arrow of Light Awards, and may wear the Gold and Bronze Awards if he chooses as well (although to *me*, it's a little overkill...why wear the Bronze and Gold Awards when you've earned the Silver Award?? That's like wearing the Star and Life badges when you're Eagle.)
It is NOT appropriate for him to wear the kelly green Venturing uniform with the red shoulder loops nor with the Assistant Scoutmaster badge of office.
Adults MUST WEAR the kelly green Venturing shirt if youth members decided that this will be the shirt to wear. Youth members MUST WEAR THE KELLY GREEN SHIRT during formal occasions. A Crew may have a DDI as well....but the kelly green shirt is the official shirt for Venturing.
Hope this all helps out, Tom...thanks for asking!
(Mike Brown added the following:)
The Venturer Handbook states that Venturers may earn the Eagle badge on their uniform. By Venturers I mean under 21 youth in the Venturing program.
Have not seen anything about wearing the AOL on the Venturing uniform. The patch goes ON the pocket, not under it, under the BS award.
Personally, I feel that ALL Venturers should wear the knots for Eagle and AOL on their green shirts, but this is NOT what National is saying.
Venturing and BS awards should be worn on the Venturing uniform.
Exploring Awards should be worn on the Exploring uniform.
Do NOT wear the Exploring on Venturing or Venturing on Exploring, as LFL/Exploring and Venturing are totally separate.
If he has earned the Silver Award, there is a knot. That should carry over to ALL BSA Uniforms (note that Explorers are NOT part of the BSA).
The Ranger Award only has the Ranger bar, but this bar may be worn after turning 21. I assume it is ok to wear it on the tan shirt (it is). It is defiantly ok to wear it on the Venturing green shirt.
Bronze and Gold have no knots. The ribbons should not be worn past 21, and thus should not be worn by adults or on Boy Scout uniforms.
(Learning for Life/)Exploring is NOT part of the BSA, so there is no award that would carry over.
From what you say here, he should wear on his tan Assistant Scoutmaster uniform the knots for Eagle Scout, Arrow of Light, and Venturing Silver. IF he has earned the Exploring GOLD Award prior to the 1998 split, he should ALSO wear the knot for that. No Bronze or Gold ribbons. No Exploring ribbons. At court of honors he should wear his Eagle Scout Medal, Gold Medal, and Silver Medal.
Hope this helps.
Michael Brown
Venturing Crew #1838
Greg wrote and asked me about the Congressional Awards:
I need to know more about the Congressional Award.
At this location, they has all of the information you need about this special award and how to earn/receive it.
There is presently NO square knot insignia authorized or created for holders of the Congressional Awards.
I hope this all helps out! Thanks to those who contributed in this page!
Settummanque!
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