Re: Knots right side up?

(If there's a previous one that hit the list without my reply
inside, I apologize...I hit the "send" key too soon but I tried to
catch it before it posted.)

Pete Gerlach <PGerlach@AOL.COM> asked:

>I have 2 printings of the SM Handbook, which show 2 different AoL
>knots, so I always assumed that, for some reason, it has been
>changed. So which is the "true" knot - red to the right or green?

The OFFICIAL Arrow of Light square knot is described as below:

"A square knot consisting of ropes in dark green and scouting red,
with the green rope ends toward the LEFT side as viewing it. The
RED rope forms the loop on the "standing part" on the LEFT side to
enable it to be placed right-side up on the uniform shirt properly.
The knot is enclosed within a yellow (gold) border."

(The discussion of the "standing part" comes from the Insignia
Guide, page 44.)

As you're looking at the knot on your shirt, Pete, it should be
green to the left, with the red "standing end" to the left, and red
to the right side.


Someone else asked "what is the "distinguishing color" on this
knot?

[distinguishing color: The color which denotes the award and the
most prominent color on the knot emblem; it allows a Scouter to be
able to wear the emblem upside-right on the field uniform. The
color comes from the main color used on the ribbon of the medallion
or medal or from the "program color" (orange for Tiger Cubs, light
blue for Cub Scouting, green for Boy Scouting, red for Exploring).
For instance, green is the "main color" used for the Scouters' Key
Award; blue is the "main color" used for the Cub Scouters' Award;
and red was used as the "main color" for the first version of the
Silver Award square knot)]

Traditionally, any color other than black, white or yellow has been
used as the "distinguishing color". In this case, green is used as
the "distinguishing color" in the same way that green is used as
the "distinguishing color" for the Scouters' Key Award.


Finally, I've received five private postings asking me for my
"source" for the "15 square knot prohibition" I wrote earlier (and
which shows up on the Insignia website).

A few years back, I fired off a letter and later made a phone call
to National. I was hot, and both the letter and the phone call
while nice, had a strong "why don't you tell us about these
things?" tone to it.

See, the week before, I was in Kansas City making a speech during a
Scouting event, and the Director of Field Services of that Council
was in attendance. He cornered me afterwards and informed me that
I should be wearing ONLY fifteen square knots (the shirt I had worn
in this case had my full nineteen square knots - six rows and one
on top). I asked him where did he get that from, because it
"doesn't say so in the Insignia Control Guide". After he then said
something to the effect that I was a "showoff", he then said "I
read it from something from National" and then walked off.

I spent the next couple of days trying to find where he read it
(and then, when I couldn't find it, I wrote and later called
because I didn't want to wait for an answer). The response was
that while I could wear as many as I choose to, that "proper and
correct uniforming" says that I should limit the number of square
knot emblems to fifteen so that other insignia could be properly
placed (and in looking back, it DOES make sense...but I DON'T LIKE
the answer) on the uniform shirt.

That's where the 15 "limit" comes from. It's NOT in the Insignia
Guide, although over the years I've been told that it along with
some other pet-peeves of mine would get in there.

Hot?? Yeah I was. But as others have wrote here, when something
doesn't make sense, ask.

(and because of that deal and another one equally as "hot", I've
limited wearing no more than fifteen (although I do "cheat" and on
occassion, as you'll see on my home webpage, I do wear the bar from
the Youth Leadership in America award).

Settummanque!


(c) 1998 Mike Walton ("no such thing as strong coffee,...") blkeagle@mninter.net
http://mninter.net/~blkeagle Burnsville, MN 55306-7130 (612) 435-3085
privately at kyblkeagle@aol.com or waltonm@server.kaiserslautern.army.mil
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