With the range of interest badges for each section due to be increased soon, and some announcements already made, some may suggest Guiding is never done chopping and changing the range. Others may suggest that changes never used to be so frequent as they are nowadays – that once an interest badge was introduced, it stayed introduced. Of course, neither view is entirely correct.
Some badges did exist from the early days for decades, having been carried over straight from the Boy Scout programme. So the likes of Artist, Boatswain, Child Nurse, Clerk, Cook, Cyclist, Electrician, First Aid, Florist/Gardener, Gymnast, Musician, Stalking/Naturalist, Tailor/Needlewoman, Pathfinder, Pioneer, Sick Nurse, Signaler, Swimmer and Telegraphist – were all Boy Scout badges from before 1910, which were adopted as Guide Badges. And in the early years of the Girl Guides, the syllabuses for the Scout and Guide badges were identical.
It can equally be said, however, that some badges have not stood the test of time. Some, indeed, may barely exist in badge form at all. What of Decorative Needlecraft (c1935-1939), Flower Lover (c1938-1939), Geologist (c1916-1931), Handbell Ringer (c1939, gone by 1943), History Lover (c1939, gone by 1943) Printer (c1919-1935)?
From the early 1990s, it became Guiding’s habit, rather than make minor tweaks to the badge selection, to fundamentally review. There is no question that the likes of Cobbler badge (1918-1978) and Basket Maker badge (1916-1978) had lost relevance over their span as the skills moved from being widespread to being niche, and certain badges moved to being ‘staged’, from the 1980s, was a reflection partly of hobbies a girl might start at an older or younger age, but more so, a reflection of topics where popularity had diminished, and badge sales had slumped, but there was a reluctance at headquarters to drop the topic entirely.
Hence it was in the 1990s that Guiding first got radical, in terms of the range of interest badges. The old set were dropped entirely and a new set introduced, tied to the new programme. New colours, new shapes, and new topics being covered, seeking to be relevant to the current generation, and not carrying on old badges regardless of uptake. And yet, naturally, some of the classic topics remained, and equally, some of the new badges proved to be more popular than others.
And though over the era new designs were introduced, the topics of the badges themselves remained largely unaltered. And it continued in that line throughout the length of that programme.
With the new programme for the 2020s, it was time for another complete new set of badges. Limiting the number of badges for each section did make sense in economy terms – and tying the badges to programme themes wasn’t new as it echoed the approach taken in the Brownie programme in the early 20th century. Naturally, there was discontent with the choice of topics for each section – but then, that would have been the case regardless of the topics
Nevertheless, the pressure has wielded results, with new Interest Badge topics due to be announced shortly for each section, apparently based on requests received. Will there be another food-based badge for Guides? We’ll just have to wait and see . . .
Leslie's Guiding History 