Troop Crests

[Charlene Domschot]

Troop Crests

What is a crest, and who uses them?
Used by Girl Scout Juniors, Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors, troop crests are a symbol of a troop's goal or main interest. In the early days of Girl Scouting, they were used to identify a troop. The rapid growth of the movement soon made numbering necessary, but crests were kept as a symbol of a troop's interests. Today's Girl Scouts should choose a crest carefully and find one that has special meaning to them. Every member of the troop should know what their crest is and what it means. There is even a blank crest so girls can design their own.

How and when do you choose a crest?

When a troop decides to choose a crest, they need to look at more than a picture. With younger girls, it may be best not to have them look at pictures at all, but just read the meaning to them so they can decide which one has the most meaning for their troop.

Once chosen, a crest is used for the life of the troop. If a girl enters an established troop, then she takes that troop's crest. If a troop bridges to the next level and forms a new troop, they may choose to keep the previous crest or select a new one. If part of the troop bridges and forms a new troop, they can choose a new crest. The girls remaining behind should keep the old crest unless the focus of the troop has drastically changed from when the original was selected.

The history of troop crests

Starting with the first Girl Guides in Savannah in 1912, each patrol or troop was named for a flower, tree, shrub, or bird as a form of identification. The first two patrols were called the White Rose and Carnation patrols, followed by the Red Rose and Poppy patrols. Each troop selected its own crest, and this emblem identified the troop. Every girl in a troop wore the same troop crest. Crests were only flowers, trees and birds until 1989 when more contemporary designs like the waterfall, the lightening bolt and the unicorn were added.

Girl Scout records indicate that an art teacher stenciled the first crests for Girl Scouts in 1912. Manufactured embroidered troop crests were made available in 1913, and starting in 1918, blank crests could be purchased by troops that wanted to embroider their own designs.

GSUSA has stated there is no "official" list that explains the crests. The meaning is left to the individual troop to determine and can be (does not have to be) based on popular, historical or local interpretation. It could have a particular meaning to the girls themselves that is different from another troop selecting the same crest - but it's meaning should be known to all who have selected it. For example a sailboat might be selected because a group lives on the coast, because many girls sail, because the sail represents (to them) individuality and freedom or practically anything else."

__._,_.___

[Val Nesci]

I've had the same troop crest for 10 years. When the troop was formed in 1999, the 5 girls in the troop each selected one crest and wrote it down on a piece of paper. We put them all in bowl and pulled out the Red Rose. It has stayed with us. Last year 2 of my girls suggest we choose a new crest, I told them the story of how it was selected and that the girl who picke this crest had pass away 6 months before, and that we needed to keep it not only for her, but because it represnted Troop 510, an older girl troop.