Where to attach your badges

The picture below, which is provided by the Scout Association and covers land, sea and air scouts, shows you where the badges should go. Make sure that yours are in the same locations! Remember, you can wear some of the badges earned in Cubs (Chief Scout's Silver, Nights Away, Hikes Away, Participation, Moving On and Stages Activity).

Tips on attaching badges

Many Scouts often run into trouble when trying to attach badges to their uniform and they end up hanging off and look a mess. Make sure that your uniform is neat by following these tips:

• Don't put off doing the job - Once you receive a badge, put in on at the first chance you get. You must be wearing it next time you wear your uniform.
• Attachment method - Use a method that you feel comfortable with. You can sew them or you can get special fabric glues that look like a sheet that you cut to size, sandwich it between your badge and the uniform and then iron on to make it set.
• Type of stitch - If you are sewing, make sure you use a neat and strong stitch such as a backstitch.
• Start and finish a stitch correctly - Make sure your thread is started and finished with a strong knot so it won't come loose.
• Colour of thread - Make sure the colour of the thread you are using is similar in colour to theborder of the badge you are trying to sew on.
• Type of thread - Use a nice thin and strong cotton. This isn't pioneering!
• Mark it out - Make a removable mark with something like chalk, outlining the location of where you want your badge to go. This way you can make sure you are happy with it before you start and it gives you a guide to follow.
• Symmetry and Level - Make sure that your badges appear to be level and symmetrical and follow the patterns in the diagram. You can always wear the shirt and get someone to check and mark out where to add a badge.
• Out with the old, in with the new - With staged activity badges and participation badges, make sure you remove the old ones when you get a new one. How can someone know if you have spent 10 or 20 nights away if you wear both? You can always put the old ones on a camp blanket.
• Keep like with like - It always looks better when you keep like with like. Keep all your staged activity badges together and all the single activity badges together. You may want to go even further and do things like keeping camping related ones together.
• Activity Rows - You will see in the picture above that the activity badges run in two columns with the badges level on each row. When you have an odd amount of badges, you put the extra one in a middle position below the two columns.
• Direction of activity badges - Make sure you start adding activity badges at the top of the left arm and then work down in two columns.
• When the arm is full - When your two neat columns of activity badges have come down to the cuff start an extra column from the top but make sure that all badges are visible and not hidden under folds or under your arm. After all, they are to show off!
• Get a parent to help - This is a last resort, only to be used if all else fails.