oldsm 10 Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 Like most troops, mine accumulates a lot of ribbons for participating in various events. Things like our district camporees, 100% Boys Life, etc. Then there are the ribbons that each patrol receives (1st place, 3rd place, etc.). For a time we hung them from the ribbon holder on the troop flag, but there got to be too many of them. So we took them off and put them on a special ribbon bar (basically a horizontal dowell suspended from a vertical pole in a stand. But that gets messed up and really wasn't a great solution. It seems that we should retain these ribbons and other awards as a part of troop history, but it also seems as though they should be somewhat visible in order to serve any historical purpose. What do your troops do with the various ribbons and awards that they receive over the years? Link to post Share on other sites
prairie 10 Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 My two trains of thought: Display only the ones that really mean something to the troop. Display only current ribbons, how many years depends on how much stuff you want on the flag pole. Link to post Share on other sites
Stosh 3452 Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 On the other end of the spectrum, our crew politely declines acceptance of any ribbons and if the event insists that they receive them, they go in the fire before we leave. While it defeats the whole purpose of issuing ribbons, it does keep one's life from becoming cluttered. Link to post Share on other sites
eagle90 125 Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 We still put them on our flag. We have over 50 years worth on there! (Shower rod rings work well!) It's fun to see the boys look through them. Last week they were putting some new ones on and said "WOW! Here's an old one from 1985! I had to point out to them some of the ones from the late '50's and their eyes kind of just glassed over! Link to post Share on other sites
anarchist 10 Posted February 24, 2007 Share Posted February 24, 2007 oldsm, I see nothing wrong with aquiring and holding on to the ribbons. We have troop ribbons from 1952 that I would never even think of removing from our flag! the ball of bibbons at the top of out flag is very large. they are hung from a circular ribbion bracket that fits between the pole and the finial (spear pointie thing on top). We made a flag shroud large enough to cover it all which makes tranport a breeze. If the size of the "display" causes a problem perhaps you might want to build a troop (and patrol version) coup stick (pole) to sit in a corner of your meeting hall... You could make several "rationalized" versions...say, keep activities and conpetitions on the troop flag and then move patrol ribions to separate coup sticks ( patrol ribbon should be on patrol flags anyway, (not on the troop flag, IMHO). And then other ribbions - 100% boys life, (or whatever) to the troop coup pole... Coup sticks (from the french "couper" - to cut or strike), for the Native American challenged or those having forgotten their cubbie years... is a decorative system of logging the number of times a warrior did something brave or notable...such as the capture or rescue of a horse or comrade, the hit or touch a dangeous enemy without being injured...etc. Along these lines -we also have a "skin" hanging on the wall of our scout room thats kind of neat...a dad awhile back cut a large tan piece of felt into the shape of a "bear skin". On this he stitched one of all of the camporee patches, summer camp patches and district award patches that the troop has earned over the years...History is good! It helps inculcate (see us neanderthal know a few important words) in the scouts a feeling of belonging to something ongoing and special. anarchist Link to post Share on other sites
Gonzo1 10 Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 I disagree with jblake47, putting them in the fire is disrespectful in my opinion. Keep them all. How many your unit wants on the unit flag is up to the unit, hang them from a dowel rod if you wish. Display them with pride! Link to post Share on other sites
gwd-scouter 11 Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 Our troop is fairly young so we have not acquired many ribbons. But, those we had were getting tangled on the flag. We strung a line across the back of our Scout room and now hang all the ribbons from that. Makes a nice display. Link to post Share on other sites
epalmer84 10 Posted February 25, 2007 Share Posted February 25, 2007 We keep about a years worth on the flag itself. Then they get stuffed in a box. We just changed sponsors and moved to a new church. The new room we meet in has two steel I-beams supporting the ceiling. We are going to put the ribbons on a board and stick them in the beams along with other awards and the like. Ed Link to post Share on other sites
JerseyJohn 10 Posted March 1, 2007 Share Posted March 1, 2007 We put troop ribbons on the troop flag. Patrols that earn ribbons place them on their respective patrol flags. John Link to post Share on other sites
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