Commissioner Badges

Commissioners have always been an important part of scouting. They are the volunteers that provide guidance to new units. It is believed that the first badges were issued in 1911. The badge included a First Class emblem as did all other adult leader badges because leaders were supposed to represent what a First Class scout should be.

The original names of the commissioner positions were different from today. Through the help of George Crowl, it appears the Deputy Scout Commissioner changed names in the 1930s and, according to Randy Worchester, Scout Commissioner changed in the 1950s or 1960s. The name change for Neighborhood Commissioner, which started in 1933, occurred in 1973. The position of Assistant Council Commissioner was created in 1967. The relationships are as follows:

Original Name	Today's Name
Scout Commissioner	Council Commissioner
Deputy Scout Commissioner	District Commissioner
Assistant Deputy Scout Commissioner	Assistant District Commissioner
Neighborhood Commissioner	Unit Commissioner

The table below uses today's names for brevity. There are varieties of many of these badges which include background material (wool, tan, khaki) and variations due to different manufacturers but that information is not included at this time.

Commissioners

In the table below, hover over any image to see a larger version.

Years	CC	Asst. CC	DC	Asst. DC	Unit
1911-20		no position			no position
1920-38		no position
1939-53		no position
1953-66		no position
1967-69
1970-72
1972 only	---	---	---	---
1973-?			---	---
1973-
2010 only
2011-Present

Commissioner Badges: (1920-1969)

Between 1920 and 1969, one had to understand the many color differences of the commissioner-type badges to know the position in scouting.

Colors of Badge Border, Wreath, Eagle

Different parts of the badges were colored differently. The table below is for Commissioners only.

Commissioners 1920-1969	Wreath	Badge Border	Eagle
Scout Commissioner Council Commissioner	Silver	Silver	Silver
Assistant Council Commissioner	Silver	Silver	Gold
Deputy Scout Commissioner District Commissioner	Gold	Silver	Silver
Assistant Deputy Scout Commissioner Assistant District Commissioner	Gold	Silver	Gold
Neighborhood Commissioner	Gold	Gold	Gold

Background Color of Badge

In 1970, BSA changed position badges to include the name. The first series had blue backgrounds and today's have red backgrounds. Soon after 1970, red background commissioner badges began to appear. However, it is not clear whether the red version was issued at the same time as the blue version or subsequent to it. In any case, by 1973, all commissioner position badges had a red background.

Roundtable Commissioners

In 1970, scouting also had its first Roundtable position badges. And in 1991, the word "Scout" was added to the Cub position badges and the word "Boy" was added to the Scout position badges.

Other changes are summarized below.

More information from Randy Worchester:

• 1952 - The Arrowhead Honor for Commissioners was added.
• 1973 - Women are allowed to become Cub Scout Unit Commissioners or Cub Scout Roundtable Commissioners.
• 1989 - The Distinguished Commissioner Award was introduced.

Additional supporting information:

• Randy Worchester
  • Commissioner Service, the First Hundred Years - Slides
    updated Feb. 2017
  • Commissioner Service, the First Hundred Years - Report
    updated Feb. 2017
• Edward M. Brown
  • History and Evolution of Commissioner Insignia

Credits:

• Rank badges scanned from
  • World Scouting Museum's collection
  • Albertus Hoogeveen's (Orange County Council) collection
  • Dave Sococca's collection
• Many thanks to George Crowl and Randy Worchester for help with research and information.