Here’s where you need to put all those 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 uniformAs 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 blue Beavers uniform sweatshirt, and not onto the t-shirt or polo shirts.
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 blanketWhen 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 sectionsYour 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 awardsYou 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 sectionThe 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 awardWhen 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 awardThe Chief Scout’s Award is the highest award for every section you’ll be part of, so you always wear the highest award you've achieved. Unstitch the old award, and sew on your new award and wear it with pride!
Section Challenge Awards
Only wear awards for your sectionYou should only wear Challenge Awards from your current section on your uniform. For example, you wouldn’t wear your Beaver Awards on your Cubs sweater, or your Cubs Awards on your Scouts uniform.
Staged Activity Badges
Wear your highest level in all sectionsYou’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 should only wear the highest level you’ve earned.
Section Activity Badges
Only wear awards for your sectionYou 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 uniformThe 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.
Beavers
Six Challenge Awards
Cubs
Seven Challenge Awards
Scouts
Nine Challenge Awards