The History of Scouting
Welcome to the worlds
biggest family!
As a scout you are part of a
family of 30 million!
You are part of the world
biggest youth organisation!
Somebody who is/was a
scout has been to has been
to everywhere on earth, from
the oceans, to Everest, and
even to the moon!
Lord Robert Baden-Powell
Lord Baden-Powell or BadenPowell of Gilwell, was a lieutenantgeneral in the British Army, writer,
founder and Chief Scout of the
Scout Movement. Baden-Powell
served in the British Army from
1876 until 1910 in India and
Africa. His ideas, beliefs and
attitude to life were the building
blocks for scouting.
General Baden-Powell had become a
national hero during the Boer War as a
result of his successful defence during
the Siege of Mafeking of 1899–1900.
During the siege, the Mafeking
Cadets, boys aged 12 to 15 who acted
as messengers, had impressed him with
their resourcefulness and courage. In
the years following the war, he began
discussing the idea of a new youth
organisation with a number of people,
including William Alexander Smith,
founder of the Boys' Brigade, with
whom he discussed setting up a Boys
Brigade Scouting achievement.
Brownsea island experimental camp
1st August 1907: B-P tested his theory's of scouting on Brownsea island.
He invited 21 boys from London based boys brigade units, and ran a week
camp in a patrol style challenge. The camp was a huge success, and Baden
Powell built on the concept to incorporate weekly meetings and regular trips
away. The rest, as they say, is history.
Scout salute and promise
Baden Powell created the
scout salute to accompany
the military style flag breaks
and procedures. It is made to
represent the three aspects
of a promise every would
make, 1. Duty to god and the
queen/king 2. Help other
people 3. Keep the scout law
Scout law
Scouts make a promise to keep to the ideals of the movement. Originally being
nine laws, this has since be simplified to seven
A Scout is to be trusted
A Scout is loyal.
A Scout is friendly and considerate.
A Scout belongs to the worldwide family of Scouts.
A Scout has courage in all difficulties.
A Scout makes good use of time and is careful of possessions and property.
A Scout has self-respect and respect for others.
Left handed handshake
According to the Ashanti warrior version of the story, then-Colonel Baden-Powell
saluted them with his right hand, but the Ashanti chiefs offered their left hands and
said, "In our land only the bravest of the brave shake hands with the left hand,
because to do so we must drop our shields and our protection." The Ashantis knew
of Baden-Powell's bravery because they had fought against him and with him, and
they were proud to offer the left hand of bravery.
Highest Scouting Award
In 1909, King Edward VII granted
the award of the King's Scout
Badge as the highest achievement
award for Boy Scouts on the
recommendation of Robert BadenPowell, the Movement Founder and
Chief Scout of the World. Whether
an award is either a Kings Scout, or
Queens Scout, depends on the head
of the monarchy at the time of the
Award. It was lasted changed in 1953
for Queen Elizabeth II.
The Growth of Scouting
From 21 scouts on the Brownsea island camp,
numbers grew to over 100,000 scouts and
nearly 8000 leaders in 1910. In 1922 there
became over 1,000,000 scouts. In 2007, it was
believed that there were over 30,000,000
scouts in nearly every country in the world! only
6 of the world's 196 independent countries do
not have Scouting: Andorra, Cuba, North
Korea, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), and Vatican
City. A seventh country, China (People's
Republic), has no Scouting except in the
former colonies of Hong Kong and Macau.
Another 24 countries have the beginnings of
Scouting, in an organising or building stage.
Scouting sections
In 1916, Wolf cubs were introduced to cater for the needs of younger children, aged 6-10. In the Uk this
eventually changed to Cub Scouts.
The Beaver programme started in the 1960s and 1970s in various countries around the world, with Canada
and Northern Ireland leading the way. It wasn't officially recognised in the UK until 1986. In Hong Kong,
they are called grasshoppers, and in Australia they are called joeys!
In 1918, Rover Scouts were introduced so scouts could carry on scouting after there 18th birthday. In 1967
Venture Scouts replaced the Rover Scouts and Senior Scout sections and the Venture Scout section
was eventually replaced by the Explorer Scout section and the Scout Network in 2003.
Leader Training, Wood
Badge
In 1919 the first leader training programme was
created, and ran at Gilwell Park. On completion,
B-P presented the leaders with their wood
Badge, and become members of 1st Gilwell
Park, the worlds biggest group. This was not an
actual badge but a set of wood beads on a
leather thong. The idea came from a Zulu chief
called Dinizulu who wore a 12 foot necklace
containing over a 1000 beads on state
occasions. Having being given beads from the
necklace, B-P made the first award. A Turks
head woggle was used, which has no beginning or
end to symbolise the bond of scouting, and
Gilwell scarf could then be worn.
World Scout Jamboree
At Olympia, London, England,
1920. 8,000 Scouts from 34
countries represented for the
first world scout jamboree.
Baden-Powell was also made
the Chief Scout of the World.
95 years later, the 23rd WSJ
will be held in japan and is
planned to be the biggest
scouting event in history.
The Death of Baden-Powell
January 8th, 1941, at 83 years of
age, B-P died. He was buried in a
simple grave at Nyeri within sight
of Mount Kenya. Lady Olave
Baden-Powell, B-P's wife and
founder of the girl guides, carried
on his work, promoting Scouting
and Girl Guiding around the world
until her death in 1977. His
gravestone bears a circle with a dot
in the centre "ʘ", which is the trail
sign for "Going home", or "I have
gone home". Africa has declared
the grave site a national monument.