When people think about Girl Scouts, they generally think about cookies. Common sense would suggest, however, that millions of young women do not become Girl Scouts in order to sell those boxes. The Girl Scout program has a foundation in the Promise and Law.
The Girl Scout Promise
On my honor, I will try:
To serve God* and my country,
To help people at all times,
And to live by the Girl Scout Law.
The Girl Scout Law
I will do my best to be
honest and fair,
friendly and helpful,
considerate and caring,
courageous and strong, and
responsible for what I say and do,
and to
respect myself and others,
respect authority,
use resources wisely,
make the world a better place, and
be a sister to every Girl Scout.
In addition to the promise and law, the program also has four fundamental goals that encourage girls to:
* Develop to their full potential.
* Relate to others with increasing understanding, skill, and respect.
* Develop a meaningful set of values to guide their actions and to provide for sound decision-making.
* Contribute to the improvement of society.
The program thus encourages girls and young women to take care of themselves and others in a way that contributes to the overall good of society. These values can be found in several of the Girl Scout traditions and in the program itself. For example, Girl Scouts have always been taught to leave a place better than how they found it. Be it a wilderness trail, a meeting place, or their own backyard, girls are reminded to make the world around them just a little bit better.
At each level an appropriate amount of leader guidance is mixed in with an appropriate amount of girl initiative. At the Daisy level, input from the girls is limited, which makes sense at an age when many of them still can’t tie their shoes. As girls age though, they are encouraged to take more and more control over the troop management. In this way, girls learn to make wise choices for themselves and emerge into adulthood with the confidence to direct their own lives.
Probably most telling is the program’s tag line: “Girl Scouts, where girls grow strong.” No other program in the US is so devoted to the overall success and development of girls...and you thought it was all about cookies.
The Brownie pin, the traditional Girl Scout pin, and the new contemporary pin are worn to indicate membership in the Girl Scouting movement in the USA. Both are in the shape of a trefoil. The three “leaves” of the trefoil represent the three parts of the Girls Scout Promise.
The traditional pin features an American eagle and shield, both of which are also a part of the great seal of the United States of America. The eagle is used to represent power and strength, and the shield is there to represent protection. The Great Shield of the United States shows the shield resting only on the eagle to represent our self-sufficiency as a country. In Girl Scouts, young women learn to become self-reliant citizens of the United States.
In the right talon of the eagle is an olive branch and in the left is a bundle of arrows. Although the eagle is looking at the olive branch as an indication of our nation’s preference for peace, the arrows indicate our readiness to fight for our ideals. Girl Scouts in the USA, likewise, are peace-loving but are willing to fight for what their beliefs. The readiness of the country to defend its ideals mirrors to Scout motto of “Be Prepared.”
The seal of the United States contains a scroll on which is printed “E Pluribus Unum” meaning, one from many. The many states make up the nation. The many girls make up troops and the troops make up neighborhoods. Neighborhoods make up Councils, which in turn make up the American Girl Scouts. From the single girl to the national movement, the many (three million) make one.
The contemporary pin retains the trefoil shape of the traditional pin but in the place of the eagle and shield are the silhouettes of three girls. Girl Scouting is a dynamic and changing organization and the new pin presents “the new face(s)” of Girl Scouting.
The new trefoil design features open edges to indicate the organizations openness to change. The organization is strengthened by the flexibility to accept and embrace change.
The three faces are looking right, toward the future. The young women of the scouting movement are our future.
The three faces represent the movement’s commitment to pluralism and diversity. Girl Scouts embrace all girls as members regardless of racial, cultural, or socio-economic status.
World Trefoil Pin
The World trefoil pin is worn to indicate membership in the Girl Scout and Girl Guide organization of the world.
The blue background stands for the sky while the gold stands for the sun. Around the world, we all share the same sky and the same sun.
The trefoil shape, as in the USA Girl Scout pin, represents the parts of the promise. All Girl Scouts and Guides around the world have a promise that is unique to their country but that features three central parts.
The two stars represent the promise and law. As with the promise, each country has its own version of the Girl Scout/Guide law.
The base of the trefoil is in the shape of a flame, representing our love for humanity and the flame that burns in every Girl Scout/Guide’s heart.
The line in the center is a compass needle pointing us in the right direction, guiding us and the outer circle of the pin represents the association of all Scouts and Guides throughout the world.
Both pins are always worn on the left side over the heart.
