About old versions of Merit Badges… (20 June 2011)

Nancy Ernst wrote and asked me to identify some old merit badges she gained possession of:

“These are not current ones I am sure. These are going to date back before 2004, but I would appreciate any information you might have.”

Hi Nancy!!

I earned *both* of those merit badges, Nancy. They both exist in new forms with new names and designs today.

In 1969, the BSA introduced Communications as a merit badge. At that time, it was not required for Eagle.  It became an Eagle required merit badge in 1972 with the changes to the Scouting program overall.  The first design of the merit badge was a satellite on a black background (the merit badge on your left). If you ever come across one with a khaki (green) border (which indicated that it was not required for Eagle), hang onto it with your life because to patch traders/collectors, it is a very limited and valuable item!! The design was remade in 1975 to the present merit badge design, based on submitted recommendations by Scouts to “Boys’ Life” magazine.

From 1956 to 1972, the merit badge called Conservation of Natural Resources (the one on the right with the deer) was a required merit badge for Eagle. The items it illustrated was copied and used as the basis for the prettiest National Scout Jamboree uniform emblem in 1969. In 1972, the merit badge was renamed Enviromental Science. The BSA redesigned to the present merit badge design, using the “R” cycle (recycle – reclaim – reuse) on a light blue background.  The old merit badge is not as valuable as the Communications one, but because it existed for a relatively short time before it was redesigned and renamed, some consider it valuable. There is also an “non-Eagle required” bordered version but because it was plentiful relatively speaking, it’s not a valuable as the silver-bordered Eagle required version, shown here.

As a young Scout, the fifth merit badge I earned was Communications; the seventh I earned was Conservation of Natural Resources (CNR), and my Scoutmaster had to find the merit badge because they took it off the shelves and replaced it.  I also earned Environmental Science — it was required for Eagle (Conservation of Natural Resources was until 1972) — and I also used both merit badges toward my gold Hornaday Award medal. I was young and stupid when I sold my CNR merit badge to a patch collector in 1983 for $300 and regretted it ever since.  I did find TWO however via eBay a few years back, and one of them is back in my display of merit badges I earned as a Scout; the other is in a baggie in a drawer in my cluttered office room.

Thanks for asking me to help you ID them for you…the requirements for both can be found in a 1969 or 1970 version of the Scout Handbook; or the 1969 version of the Boy Scout Requirements booklet.  They don’t appear in the 1972 version because of the design changes and the name change.

Settummanque!