Order of the Arrow

You can get more flies with honey than with vinegar. 

I believe Unit Commissioners operate best when they are a friendly face, a mentor, a guide. Not a police officer, an inspector or an enforcer. Unless there is some sort of health or safety issue going on, a soft power approach is going to fix far more units than a confrontational and aggressive approach. Maybe your district or council does things differently than mine. 

https://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Unit_Commissioner

Same here.  A CC of a local troop asked the DC to stop sending a certain UC to their unit.  

Sure was.  1980.   Here's a start; https://mediafiles.scoutshop.org/m2pdf/BePrepared_Vol_1_No_8.pdf https://www.classb.com/history-of-the-scouts-uniform/ https://www.classb.com/history-of-the-scouts-uniform/      

@CaptBurgers, welcome to the forums! Any chance you have your dad's handbook? That would contain the guide that boys would follow. Boys Life and Scouter magazines have online magazines that you could also research. As to Eagle pins and knots, try browsing https://www.sageventure.com/history/

One does not have to read between the lines of the precisely-worded announcement.  They are severing Scouting from their faith in every meaningful manner and that is their right.  They want their youth to participate in their program, and will not overtly encourage Scouting.  With that will be a discontinuation of support and the faith’s dominant presence in the operational and policy-making committees of our organization.  We will no longer need to be concerned that our decisions will run afoul of the preferences of the faith’s leadership.  I thank them for their past interest in the BSA and wish them well.  We will be fine as an organization