Here’s where you need to put all the badges they’ll start earning

And don’t worry – by the time your young people are in Scouts, we’ll have taught them how to sew them on themselves!

Learn skills, earn badges, sew them on, show them off!

All the badges you earn go in specific places on your uniform

As your young person earns badges, they’ll need to be sewn onto their uniform. We've put together a series of handy diagrams showing you where all the badges should be sewn.

If you’ve got questions about where your badges need to go, how long you can wear occasional badges, or which badges you can move from one section to the next, just get in touch with us.

Uniform Badge Placement Diagrams

Select your section below to see where to sew your badges

Badges should be sewn onto the red Squirrels uniform sweatshirt, and not onto the t-shirt or polo shirts.

Badges should be sewn onto the Explorer Shirt or Blouse. All young people of Explorer age who participate in the Explorer Scout Young Leaders programme will be expected to wear the Explorers uniform. Explorer Scouts who have completed the Explorer Badge or Young Leader Missions are also entitled to wear the Explorer Belt Buckle or Young Leader Belt Buckle as appropriate.

If you’re attached to the Group as a Young Leader, you should wear the Group Scarf (Necker) as well as your Explorer Unit Scarf, if you have one.

What to do with your badges when you move up to a new section

You can take some of your badges with you, but others will need to move to your badge blanket

When it’s time to move to a new section, you may want to keep your old uniform as a keepsake, with all your badges intact, just as they were when you left the previous section. Once you’re invested in your new section, you can buy a section starter set for a small fee, and sew the new badges onto your new uniform. If you want to keep your uniform exactly as it was, you can also buy replacement staged activity badges.

If you prefer, you can unstitch your badges and move them across. The guide below shows what you can do with the badges you’ve earned, and explains which ones you can keep on your uniform when you move into a new section, and which ones can’t move across. As ever, if you have any questions about badge placement or which ones you can keep, speak to your section leaders, who will be able to help you.

World Membership Badge

Worn in all sections

Your World Membership Badge follows you in every section, from Beavers all the way through to Network and even being an Adult Volunteer. You can either unstitch it from your current uniform and re-sew it, or buy a new one to sew onto your new uniform.

Joining In Awards

Wear your highest four awards

You can wear up to four Joining In Awards, which should be the four latest ones you’ve earned. So, if you’ve been in Scouts for 5 years, you’d wear your Level 2, Level 3, Level 4 and Level 5 awards.

Moving On Awards

Wear the award from your last section

The Moving On award is given to you as you prepare to move from one section to another, to show that you have moved on, so you would only wear the last badge you achieved in the previous section.

Duke of Edinburgh's Awards

Always wear your highest award

When you complete your Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, you can wear the highest award you’ve achieved on the uniform you’re currently wearing. When you achieve a higher award, unstitch the old one and sew on your new one.

Chief Scout's Awards

Always wear your highest award

The Chief Scout’s Award is the top award for every section you’ll be part of, so you should always wear the highest award you've achieved. Unstitch the old award, and sew on your new award and wear it with pride!

Queen’s & King’s Scout Award

Wear it with pride

The King's Scout Award is the highest award in Scouting and is worn with pride on your uniform shirt. Those who earned the Queen's Scout Award should not replace it with the King's Scout Award.

Section Challenge Awards

Only wear awards for your section

Only wear Challenge Awards from your current section. For example, you wouldn’t wear your Squirrels Awards on your Beavers sweater, your Beaver Awards on your Cubs sweater, your Cubs Awards on your Scouts uniform, or your Scouts Awards on your Explorers uniform.

Staged Activity Badges

Wear your highest level in all sections

You’ll start to earn Staged Activity Badges in Beavers and keep earning them all the way through to your time in Explorers, so you can carry these over onto your new uniforms whenever you move on. You only need to wear the highest level you’ve earned.

Section Activity Badges

Only wear awards for your section

You should only wear Activity Badges from your current section on your uniform. As with Challenge Awards, you don’t wear your Beaver badges on your Cubs sweater, or your Cubs badges on your Scouts uniform.

Challenge Awards

How to sew your challenge awards onto your uniform

The order in which you sew your badges on isn't important – they don't need to be in exactly the same place as shown – but the diagrams show you the pattern in which they should be sewn.

Squirrels

Four Challenge Awards

Beavers

Six Challenge Awards

Cubs

Seven Challenge Awards

Scouts

Nine Challenge Awards