World Scout Emblem

This article is about the commonly used symbol of the Scout Movement. For the World Organization of the Scout Movement emblem, see World Organization of the Scout Movement § WOSM_emblem.

The world scout emblem, used worldwide by Scouts and many Scout organizations within the Scout Movement is the fleur-de-lis, commonly with a five-point star in each outer lobe. This emblem was adopted by Scouts from the inception of the Scout Movement and is used, in various forms, by many Scout organizations.

Symbol of the Scout Movement
Owner	public domain
Country	Worldwide
Created	1907
Scouting portal

Origins of the emblem

A 1920–1939 version of the emblem used by The Scout Association

In 1897, Robert Baden-Powell trained soldiers in India in scouting. The British Army awarded trained army scouts a brass fleur-de-lis-shaped badge. In 1907, Baden-Powell issued copper fleur-de-lis badges to participants of his experimental camp on Brownsea Island in 1907^[1] and he included a simple fleur-de-lis design Scout badge in his book, Scouting for Boys.^[2] Soon after, a five-pointed star was added to each of the outer lobes of the fleur-de-lis. Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts adopted the fleur-de-lis as their symbol.^[3]

Symbolism

The fleur-de-lis represents the north point on a map or compass and is intended to point Scouts on the path to service. The three lobes on the fleur-de-lis represent the three parts of the Scout Promise: duty to God, service to others and obedience to the Scout Law.^[4] A "bond", tying the three lobes of the fleur-de-lis together, symbolizes the family of Scouting.^[5] The two five-point stars stand for truth and knowledge, with the ten points representing the ten points of the Scout Law.

External links

• Scouting portal

• Media related to Fleur-de-lis in Scouting at Wikimedia Commons