Merit Badges

You can learn about sports, crafts, science, trades, business, and future careers as you earn merit badges. There are more than 125 merit badges. Any Boy Scout may earn any merit badge at any time. You don't need to have had rank advancement to be eligible.

Steps to Earning a Merit Badge:

Pick a Subject.

Talk to your Scoutmaster about your interests. Read the requirements of the merit badges you think might interest you. Pick one to earn. Your Scoutmaster will give you the name of a person from a list of counselors. These counselors have special knowledge in their merit badge subjects and are interested in helping you.

Scout Buddy System.

You must have another person with you at each meeting with the merit badge counselor. This person can be another Scout, your parents or guardian, a brother or sister, a relative, or a friend.

Call the Counselor.

Get a signed merit badge application [Blue Card] from your Scoutmaster. Get in touch with the merit badge counselor and tell him or her that you want to earn the merit badge. The counselor may ask to meet you to explain what is expected of you and to start helping you meet the requirements. You should also discuss work that you have already started or possibly completed.

AT THE FIRST MEETING, YOU AND YOUR MERIT BADGE COUNSELOR WILL REVIEW AND MAY START WORKING ON THE REQUIREMENTS. IN SOME CASES, YOU MAY SHARE WITH YOUR COUNSELOR THE WORK THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY STARTED OR ACCOMPLISHED.

Check With Your Counselor Before Starting the Badge

Ask your counselor to help you learn the things you need to know or do. You should read the merit badge pamphlet on the subject. [Download the workbook from here, or check with our librarian to see if we have the book]

Before you start working on a merit badge, you must first get approval from your scoutmaster.


Regarding merit badges classes that Council offers, be aware that it is Troop 291’s policy that no Eagle-required merit badges can be taken there.

It is your responsibility when you earn a merit badge from the Council classes to log into the Council site to print out Blue Cards and submit them to your Committee Chair.


Show Your Stuff.

When you are ready, call the counselor again to make an appointment to meet the requirements. When you go, take along the things you have made to meet the requirements. If they are too big to move, take pictures or have an adult tell in writing what you have done. The counselor will ask you to do each requirement to make sure that you know your stuff and have done or can do the things required.

Get the Badge.

When the counselor is satisfied that you have met each requirement, he or she will sign your application. Give the signed application to your Scoutmaster so that your merit badge emblem can be secured for you.

Requirements.

You are expected to meet the requirements as they are stated -- no more and no less. You are expected to do exactly what is stated in the requirements. If it says "show or demonstrate," that is what you must do. Just telling about it isn't enough. The same thing holds true for such words as "make," "list," "in the field," and "collect," "identify," and "label."

IF A SCOUT HAS ALREADY STARTED WORKING ON A MERIT BADGE WHEN A NEW EDITION OF THE PAMPHLET IS INTRODUCED, HE MAY CONTINUE TO USE THE SAME MERIT BADGE PAMPHLET AND FULFILL THE REQUIREMENTS THEREIN TO EARN THE BADGE. HE NEED NOT START ALL OVER AGAIN WITH THE NEW PAMPHLET AND POSSIBLY REVISED REQUIREMENTS.

— Boy Scout Requirements pp.22-23


To make the rank of Eagle Scout a Scout must receive a total of 21 Merit Badges, 13 of those must be Eagle Scout Required Badges. The other 8 must be Elective badges chosen carefully by the Scout.

The Eagle Scout Required Merit Badges are:

  • Camping

  • Citizenship in the Community

  • Citizenship in the Nation

  • Citizenship in the World

  • Communication

  • Cooking

  • Lifesaving or Emergency Preparedness

  • Environmental Science or Sustainability

  • Family Life

  • First Aid

  • Personal Fitness

  • Personal Management

  • Swimming, Hiking, or Cycling

Enter the Link for more requiremnents and information on Meirt Badges!:https://www.scoutbook.com/mobile/references/boy-scouting/merit-badges/