Swastikas in Scouting

When one first sees a swastika and a scout symbol, often the first thing that comes to mind is the question; did scouting support the Nazi movement? The answer is, no. The swastika symbols have an extensive history and some have been used for at least 5,000 years.

The Origin of the Swastika Emblem in Scouting

From What Scouts Can Do – More Yarns — Baden-Powell, 1921; the full text of which can be found on the Pine Tree Web Site:

“… as you know from the account of the Swastika Thanks Badge which I have given to you in Scouting for Boys, the symbol was used in almost every part of the world in ancient days and therefore has various meanings given to it.

“Anyway, whatever the origin was, the Swastika now stands for the badge of fellowship among Scouts all over the world, and when anyone has done a kindness to a Scout it is their privilege to present him or her with this token of their gratitude, which makes him a sort of member of the Brotherhood, and entitles him to the help of any other Scout at any time and at any place.

“I want specially to remind Scouts to keep their eyes open and never fail to spot anyone wearing this badge. It is their duty then to go up to such a person, make the scout sign, and ask if they can be of service to the wearer.” –Robert Baden-Powell

The word Swastika in Sanskrit is composed of two words, “Su” (good) and “Asati” (to exist) which means “May good prevail.” Therefore, it also represents happiness and is often displayed at celebrations, cultural and religious ceremonies, and at weddings or festivals of the Indian tradition. The Swastika also is a symbol of auspiciousness, peace, and prosperity.

The swastika was also a widely used Native American symbol. It was used by many southwestern tribes, most notably the Navajo. Among different tribes, the swastika carried various meanings. To the Hopi it represented the wandering Hopi clans; to the Navajo, it represented a whirling log, a sacred image representing a legend that was used in healing rituals.

The Use of the Symbol on the Scouts’ Thanks Badge by Colin ‘Johnny’ Walker
(the original web page from Scouting Milestones is no longer available, but I have retrieved it from archives and am sharing part of it in the frame below)

The first Scouting use of the ‘swastika’ was for the Thanks Badge was introduced in 1908 and it continued to be worn in various forms until 1935. Of course, at that time it was not in the least controversial. Rudyard Kipling, a great friend of Baden-Powell, often used the fylfot (a term in early years) or a swastika as a motif on the front cover or preface of his many books as, he said, a good luck sign to the reader. The Kipling page on this site demonstrates the many links between the author and the founder of Scouting and I feel sure that B-P would have been the first to admit that his use of the device was inspired by his friend. They first met in India, where the design was commonplace.

B-P’s original idea was that the Scouts should make the badge themselves, and give it to whoever they felt had done them ‘a good turn’. No permission was required from Imperial Headquarters or even the local District Commissioner. I have seen homemade tin badges, obviously made by Scouts, in the collection of the late Peter Berry, ex-president of the Scout ‘Badgers’ Club, and illustrations for a ‘pattern’ made out of a piece of wood with nails hammered in so that jeweller’s gold or silver wire could be wound round to form the badge. The badge illustrated to the right (Kelvin Holford Collection) is made out of silver but is not a mass-manufactured item, but looks too well crafted to have been made by a boy.

Clearly however the standard of home-made badges did not pass muster for, in 1911, Imperial Headquarters issued a factory-made badge that could be ‘officially presented’ by Scout Groups without embarrassment. This badge was just a simple ‘swastika’ with a small loop so that it could be attached to clothing by means of a small safety pin. As I have seen a gold one and read about a silver version, I can at least ‘authenticate’ two versions but, if the ‘pattern’ of later badges was followed there would have also been a third cheaper version in ‘base metal’. The image to the left is, I regret, a sham, placed here only to prompt memories! Using the wonders of modern graphics programmes we have removed the fleur from a later badge to show you exactly how the first badge would have looked. We would, as ever be delighted to hear from you should you be able to contribute an image of the real thing.

Part of reason for the rarity of this first badge is that it was in use for a relatively short time, probably less than six months. As it was merely a ‘swastika’, with no visual connection with the Scout Movement, it is not surprising that many of those badges would have been disregarded during the Second World War when the swastika came to be the most hated symbol in the world.

Later in 1911, the same basic ‘swastika’ with the addition of an applied very French-looking ‘fleur’ became available in gold, silver and base metal. The gold was in most cases 9 carat though I have a 10 carat example which I think was the Canadian standard. 18 carat gold is considered too soft-wearing for most jewellery. Base Metal Swastika Thanks Badge French Fleur cast inGold Metal Swastika Thanks Badge French Fleur cast inThe different value of the metals, gold, silver and base metal, which in later badges was replaced by brass, was perhaps meant to reflect the level of the support given by the recipient, or more likely his or her social standing. Britain was still a very class-ridden society in the Edwardian era. Whilst these distinctions might have seemed a good idea at the time the badge was introduced, it is doubtful that anybody would really want to give or to receive the lowest value badge and consequently they are very rare now and perversely worth more than the gold issue! The gold example on the right, still with its pin, was awarded to Mrs J E Wright, from 154 N.L., the abbreviation being necessary because of the very limited amount of space on which to engrave. I take N.L. to mean North London, but if anyone can shed any light on this recipient, or group, we would be pleased to include the details here.

Very shortly afterwards the same badges were re-issued but with the ‘fleur’ being cast into the fylfot and not superimposed i.e. a one piece casting.

World Scout Historian Piet Kroonenburg in a companion article to this, on these Scouting Milestones, The Evolution of the World Scout Emblem, points out that the French Scout Association had asked the International Conference in 1922 to rule that the use of the words ‘Fleur’ and ‘Fleur de Lys’ be outlawed in connection with the Scout Badge. Scouting countries were asked to call the badge by another Baden-Powell term for it, that of ‘arrowhead’, because many French people saw the ‘fleur’ as being the emblem of the deposed Bourbon Kings and as the symbol of a political party whose aims were to overthrow the Republic. Britain was a signatory at this conference, and had already decided to replace the lily design.

It was in 1920’s that the ‘French looking fleur’ was replaced by the 1909 ‘Registered Design’ with the two five-pointed stars in the wings. The whole purpose of the Registered Design was to provide a unique emblem that could not be copied by others for commercial gain. The French Fleur de Lys was clearly a very ancient heraldic device and neither it nor the swastika could be protected as separate individual designs, but by placing one on the other it was thought sufficiently different to be separately registered. Its design number, as far as I can discern from the example above, is 556596. The stand alone ‘fleur’ or ‘arrowhead’ known worldwide as the badge of Scouting could only be protected by law if it was unique to Scouting. This was done by the addition of the two five-pointed stars, one in each side leaf of the ‘fleur’. Each of the ten points symbolizes one of the ten Scout Laws (in 1908 there were only nine Scout Laws). It was this unique combination of stars applied to an ancient symbol which enabled it to be copyrighted. The new ‘registered design’ fleur was at first superimposed on to the arms of the fylfot, and later in 1930 once again the same design was achieved with a single casting.

I have been corresponding with Peter Ford, a UK Scout Association Heritage Research Assistant, and he has provided the 46 page “A guide to the Medals and Awards of The Scout Association.” Pages 41-44 have thanks badges; the guide is very interesting. He has also provided me images of Thanks Badges which you can see below. Peter let me know that “The official thanks badge was registered by James Kyle (HQ Secretary) on 24 Aug 1910.”

An interesting swastika image was sent to me by the Rover Adviser, Phillip Jones, from the 1^st Dulwich Hill/Marrickville Scout Group (Dame Dixson’s Own) in Sydney, Australia which you can see to the left. The writing underneath the swastika reads: “This Swastika was presented to the late Dame Emma Elizabeth Dixson (biographical link) by the Chief Scout – Sir Robert Baden Powell in 1908. It was one of the first three gold Scout emblems to be made for the Chief Scout. Of the two remaining, he kept one himself, the other he gave to Mrs. Christian Thornett (biographical link).” The scout group in Sydney says the gold swastika was presented to Dame Dixson in 1908 but in discussions with Colin Walker, these were likely privately made for the Chief Scout; not something from the UK national scout office which did not occur until 1911. To the best of my knowledge, in the first few years all Thanks Badges were privately made.

For a good viewing of the various Thanks Badges, visit www.scoutcollecting.co.uk/ssshop4-badges-leaders-service__amp__good_service315-thanks_badges.html. Also, some early Thanks Badges can be viewed by visiting sites.google.com/site/preaprscoutbadge/1910s-uniform-badge-and-epaulettes.

The Thanks Badge has been used in all Commonwealth countries. In 1933 in South Africa, the Colored Division of the Boy Scout Association was formed and they chose to be known as Pathfinders. To meet their requirements, a new Thanks Badge, a Pathfinder Badge on a swastika, was introduced to be used specifically by the Pathfinder Section of Scouting. This badge was issued between 1933 and 1939.

The Girl Guides and Girl Scouts have used a Thanks Badge but the symbol they used was not a swastika.

I have come into possession of what I will call a “Thanks Charm.” It used the fleur-de-lis of the Thanks Badge beginning in 1923 and the British Medal of Merit. What is interesting is that the swastika is rotated 45° and reversed from a normal Thanks Badge. It has a 9ct mark on one of the legs of the swastika. It is my understanding that the gold used in Thanks Badges was 18ct gold but I have more recently learned that there are some 9ct badges. Also, only the swastika looks to be gold. This Thanks Charm looks to be fabricated from the fleur-de-lis from a type-6 Thanks Badge as it looks to be the same design as a swastika. The diameter of the Thanks Charm is 29 mm. I bought it from an eBayer in Bulgaria.

This Thanks badge is reported to have been “made on behalf of the 1st Kelburn Scout Troop in Wellington and presented to their Scoutmaster N Robertson on the occasion of his departure for the war. He had been drafted into the Wellington Rigles Regiment and left for Glasgow in November 1917.” This information is from the New Zealand Museums website – www.nzmuseums.co.nz/collections/3087/objects/517049/1917-kelburn-scouts-thank-you-badge. The problem with the 1917 date, is that this is a type-6 fleur-de-lis which was not used until 1923. The link above for a good viewing of the various Thanks Badges provided me with information about the date. Another interesting aspect of this pin is that it used a 45° rotated swastika. This is another part of the interesting history of this subject.

The Medal of Merit in Great Britain and the Colonies

This medal with a Boy Scout symbol, swastika, and green silk ribbon was the third version of the Medal of Merit. It was designed by Baden-Powell in 1928 and the design continued through 1934. During the 1930s, letters of protest were sent to Scout Headquarters from British Scouters who had traveled abroad. The letters requested a change of design for the Thanks Badge and the Medal of Merit. The response was that any medal with a swastika design could be returned for a new design issued after 1934.

The Scout Association (UK) Heritage Collection was nice enough to share with me a copy of a letter written by The Council of Jewish Scouters in April 1933 asking that the “Swastika” be removed from the Scout Movement.

Swastika Badges in France

The Swastika badge was awarded in thanks to adult leaders after many years of service. There were three levels of this badge: bronze, silver, and gold. France has several scout organizations and each has its variation of the badge. Examples can be seen below. This information was obtained from fr.scoutwiki.org/Svastika.

An additional Swastika badge from another scout group was added to the web page referenced above and I have added it to the left.

Estonian 1930 to 1940 Boy Scouts Merit Award

I did find an early scout badge from Estonia labeled “Estonia Scouts District Swastika Badge 2nd Class.” Upon further research, I believe this is an “Estonian 1930-40 Boy Scouts Merit Award.” The award from Estonia can be found on this page www.emedals.com/europe/estonia/medals/an-estonian-1930-40-boy-scouts-merit-award-eu6442.

Czechoslovak Scouting Award

The recipient of this award was a Senior Greek Boy Scout leader. You can read more at this link, svasticross.blogspot.com/2010/11/swastika-scout-medal.html.

World Scouting Museum

The Museum is the home of the World Scout Bureau Memorabilia Collection. One of the items they received in 2003 was the plaque to the right. This plaque was obviously presented to the World Scout Bureau in the late 1920’s or early 1930’s from the British Boy Scout Association.

The World Scouting Museum shared a Lone Scouts of America (LSA) pinback button with me that had a swastika on it. I found the LSA had an interesting history so I am sharing it in the frame below along with the swastika pinback button.

Lone Scouts of America

The LSA was founded by W. D. Boyce, a Chicago newspaper entrepreneur and one of the founders of the BSA. Boyce felt that the program of the BSA did not help the rural boy who could not find enough boys to form a troop or a patrol. James E. West the first chief Scout Executive of the BSA disagreed with Boyce’s concept, believing that the 4-H program was fulfilling that role. After Boyce left the BSA in 1914, he started the Lone Scouts of America and incorporated it on January 9, 1915. Boyce became the Executive Officer of Chief Totem and Frank Allan Morgan became the editor of Lone Scout. In October 1915, Boyce appointed all of his paperboys as members of the LSA and published the first issue of the Lone Scout Magazine.

Lone Scout Program

The LSA was inspired by the Lonecraft program of the British Boy Scout Association and by Ernest Thompson Seaton’s Woodcraft Indians program that used American Indian themes. No adult leaders were required in the Lone Scout program and there were no age limits. By November 1915, over 30,000 members were reported. Lone Scouts who lived near each other could form a “local tribe”, while others could form a “mail tribe” and communicate by post. Tribes could join together and form “wigwams”. Tribes elected officers such as a Chief (initially called Captain), Sachem (Vice-Chief), scribe, and Wampum Bearer (treasurer). By October of 1916, the LSA reported 133,000 members. By 1922, the membership had increased to 490,000; its peak.

By popular demand, a uniform was created in 1917 and the Lone Scout Supply Company was formed.

Advancement and Recognition

The advancement program was developed that was split into lodges. The Teepee Lodge consisted of the:

Please note better quality photos will be taken and uploaded soon.-World Scouting Museum Staff

• First Degree (Lone Scout)

• Second Degree (Woodcraft) and the

• Third Degree (Lone Eagle)

The Totem Pole Lodge included the:

Please note better quality photos will be taken and uploaded soon.-World Scouting Museum Staff

• Fourth Degree (Lone Bachelor)

• Fifth Degree (Lone Woodsman) and

• Sixth Degree (Lone Hunter)

The Sagamore Lodge consisted of the:

Please note better quality photos will be taken and uploaded soon.-World Scouting Museum Staff

• Seventh Degree (Sagamore)

The literary competitions were awarded with:

Lone Scout Contributor (LSC),
Lone Scout Scribe (LSS),
Lone Scout Graduate (LSG) and
Lone Scout Quill (LSQ).

The Booster Award system recognized Lone Scouts who recruited new members and was awarded in two levels:

Lone Scout Organizer (LSO) and
Lone Scout Booster (LSB).

A Lone Scout who earned a Sagamore Degree, Lone Scout Booster, and Lone Scout Quill was recognized as a Supreme Scout (SS) – 123 were presented. War Work medals recognized those Lone Scouts who performed service work during World War I.

Publications

The main link of the LSA was the weekly Lone Scout newspaper, published by W. D. Boyce’s company and sold by the Lone Scouts. Boys were encouraged to write articles, stories, and cartoons for Lone Scout, and several prizes and contests were announced. Many tribes started their own local “Tribe Papers” – this later became part of the program that became the Authorized Lone Scout Amateur Publications (ALSAPs). By December 1920, financial difficulties force Boyce to publish the magazine monthly and increase the price. The Lone Scout announced that they would no longer accept applications “from members of the negro race” and in 1922 the masthead of the Lone Scout changed from “A Real Boys Magazine” to “The White Boys’ Magazine”.

The Tribe Paper Editors’ Protective Association was formed to help maintain the quality of the more prestigious of the tribe papers. The last issue of Lone Scout in 1924, announced the merger with the BSA. The BSA continued the Long Scout magazine but it never attained the popularity of Lone Scout.

Notable Lone Scouts

Broderick Crawford: Academy Award-winning actor
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.: Actor and decorated Navy officer who fought in World War II
Orval Faubus: Six-term governor of Arkansas
Hubert Humphrey: Mayor of Minneapolis and thirty-either Vice President of the United States
Burl Ives: Academy Award-winning American actor and acclaimed folk music singer and author.
Fred MacMurray: Actor and star of Follow Me Boys, a 1966 Disney movie about Boy Scouts
Don McNeill: Radio personality, best known as the creator and host of The Breakfast Club.
Vincent Schaefer: Chemist and meteorologist who developed cloud seeding.

The Swastika and BSA

BSA did not develop a Thanks Badge and the only use of the swastika as a pin was worn by the National Executive Board from 1910 to 1919. However, BSA did use the swastika on several books that I have been able to identify. The spine of The Scout’s Handy Book in 1913 and the back cover of the Universal Indian Sign Language produced for the 1929 World Jamboree. As I previously mentioned, the swastika was a widely used Native American symbol but interestingly, there is no reference to the symbol in the World Jamboree book.

J. Michael Clinch, who is working on a compilation of BSA council and OA lodge merger histories, sent me the below additional information:

The Piankeshaw Council #739, headquartered in Danville (Illinois) was founded in 1926. A regional non-OA honor society, the Tribe of Gimogash was active in this council from 1918 until 1930, when it was replaced with Swastika Lodge (55), whose totem was the thunderbird. The lodge changed its name in 1935 to the Waukheon Lodge (55), possibly due to Nazi Germany’s appropriation of the ancient swastika symbol. The lodge totem and the translation of its name was “thunderbird.”

In most cases by 1935, the swastika was not being used in scouting but I did find the image to the right which referred to the Comanche Trail Council Indian Camp at the 1937 National Scout Jamboree on Wikipedia which had been uploaded by J. G. Howes.

Another reference that has come to my attention is listed under Scout Honor Societies on the US Scout Service Project website; Order of the White Swastika.That web page www.usscouts.org/honorsociety/orderwhiteswas.asp. The web page refers to a Sports Illustrated article that is no longer available but I have located the interesting article in archives and am sharing it in the frame below.

Before Hitler Abased The Swastika, Boys Took On An Ordeal To Wear It

by Jerry Cowle, May 23, 1977

Before Hitler Abased The Swastika, Boys Took On An Ordeal To Wear It – Google Docs Download

Excelsior Shoe Company Associates their Advertising with Boy Scouts

Before I share the advertising of the Excelsior Shoe Co., I have to share that it was the Excelsior tokens that got me focused on the subject of Swastikas in Scouting. I noticed that there was a common reverse of many advertising tokens between the years 1908 and 1935 which I now realize are the same years as the Thanks Badges using the swastika from the UK and the Commonwealth. The descriptions and links to these tokens begin @ www.sageventure.com/coins/tokens.html.

The Excelsior Shoe Company took advantage of the opportunity to associate their advertising with the new Boy Scout movement that began in 1910. They created a “Boy Scout” shoe, and issued commemorative tokens between July 1910 and January 1914. You can learn about the classification and get links to these tokens at www.sageventure.com/coins/scout.html.

When a scout bought a new pair of shoes from Excelsior, he got the token to the left with them. It was holed at the top center. These tokens were made of copper. When the scoutmaster could prove that everyone in his troop had bought shoes, he received the same token but in silver.

An interesting article on similar tokens with swastikas, titled Death of an Icon, Swastikas on Jewish tokens once common as ‘Good Luck’ charms by Steven H. Kaplan was written for The Shekel, volume 47, no. 1, January February 2014. The article used many of the tokens from my website for which I was acknowledged. I have made a PDF out of Death of an Icon as a reference for others.

An Inglorious End

After World War One (1914-1918) a new German political party, the National Socialists, popularly known as the Nazis, led by Adolf Hitler took possession of the swastika. It was then that the innocent device was chosen as their Party emblem. Their Black Swastika (as it was known) was made into a symbol of ‘The Vocation to fight for the Victory of the Aryan Race’ which they considered themselves to be. This became a specific ‘Aryan/Nazi’ symbol with an anti-Semitic purport.

Hitler and his Nazis took over Germany in January 1933 and on the 15^th of September 1935 raised their party flag to Germany’s National Flag. It was under the cover of this flag with the Black Swastika that the Nazis committed their crimes against humanity. Although the Black Swastika is rotated 45° and as opposed to the traditional swastika which displays it in a “square” configuration, they so much discredited and soiled the swastika that, when they finally disappeared in May 1945, the emblem could no longer be used for anything else.