Cosmic Wanderer
The 2024 patch comes from our newest Scout Master - "Cosmic Wanderer" Designed by Emily Wells
This patch is laser-etched into synthetic leather and will be a gift from scouts on an international journey into the unknown. From Scoutmaster Emily: "Special edition to inspire travel and the folks you meet along the way through your adventures. Some of the most fascinating people we meet when we wander, let’s recognize and introduce them to the Cosmic Scouts and our mission.
Patch quote is from JRR Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring.“All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring; renewed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king.”"
Black Lives Matter
The 2020 patch from the cosmic scouts was designed during the Black Lives Matter movement following the murder of George Floyd by a police officer.
The patch is a recognition of the white colonial heritage of scouting - here represented by our original white unipegicorn - in order to highlight our own promotion of white supremacy through our actions influenced by a culturally ingrained thought processes and unquestioned biases.
The Unipegicorn Scout is crushed in the raised black fist of protest & solidarity wearing the BLM bracelet as a self-adorned reminder of the task at hand - protecting Black lives.
The crushing of the scout represents the crushing of the white fragility within white scouts.
Scouts who earn merit badges such as "Crush White Fragility" and "Organizing Protest" may use this patch, as well as all scouts who are oppressed for the color of their skin.
The purpose of this badge is to adorn more Black Cosmic Scouts, more scouts who are People of Color, and to exchange systematically guarded and protected scout knowledge with them.
Prince Tribute
In 2016 the scouts had just completed their second scout badge and were preparing for the galactic jamboree, when Prince died. The scouts added this badge to the order, producing two designs that year, the Black Cosmic Scout, and the Prince Tribute Cosmic Scout Badge.
He was the purple one, the gender bender, the tiny unstoppable force in high heels, the manliest man to ever wear lace and an eternal inspiration to us all. He taught us you don’t have to be cool, you don’t have to be rich, you are what the world made you and you can make the world what you want it to be. He wore a raspberry beret when he drove his little red corvette into the sky and with his passing we finally understood what it sounds like when doves cry. May it rain purple forevermore.
First Scouts
The 2017 Cosmic Scout badge honors the first scouts. Indigenous scouts are the original scouts from which all scouting was appropriated. The circular symbol in the background is the sacred hoop. Variations on this symbol have been used by generations of various indigenous tribes for health and healing, demonstrating the alignment and continuous interaction of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual realities. The circle shape represents the interconnectivity of all aspects of one’s being, including the connection with the natural world. While some aspects of scouting have prevailed over time, this lesson of interconnectivity is a vital growth area for the modern scout. The creature featured is the mythical unipegacorn, the totem of the cosmic scout, representing the magic we are all capable of and the distances we can go. In between is the cosmic atomic symbol with the five elements representing the interconnectedness of myths, magic, and science, which we scouts work with and not against.
Tibetan Scouts
The 2018 Cosmic Scout Badge honors the yellow hat lamas of Tibet, the sect that gave us the Dalai Lama, who dress in vibrant saffron and deep red. As leader of the Buddhist world the Dalai Lama spreads a simple message of compassion, appreciation and service. Compassion towards the myriad of human experiences and appreciation of all forms of life and the many mysteries to be explored therein. As scouts we strive to be of service to those around us and undertake that service with the same compassion and appreciation. Tibetan monks were also among the first humans to create accurate maps of the world around them by launching themselves into the air aboard giant man lifting kites and drawing the earth below. Scouting would be very hard indeed without some knowledge of the world around us. With this patch we pay homage and appreciate those who spend their lives in service as well as the force of spirit that enabled both them and us to fly!
Black Scouts
The 2016 scout badge represents Black scouts. Black scouts bring with them a plethora of unique skills and lessons learned from unique ancestral knowledge. The patch also recognizes those who scout in hostile, bigoted, and racist environments, as scout skills are often most valuable to underserved and oppressed communities. The purpose of this patch is to find Black Scouts where they are, celebrate them, and help others in their community recognize them as scouts.
Cosmic Scouts
This is the 2015 Cosmic Scout Patch, and the first of its kind. The unipegicorn dances in the light of the atomic symbol. Adorned with a scout utility belt, the cosmic unipegicorn is prepared to bring their magic with them into the known and unknown. Wings spread and horn in the air, the cosmic scout is a proud expressive individual with magic to share.
The goal of the scouts is to include all the people that never got to be a scout, or were scouts and felt like outsiders, but there are certainly whole communities of people left out of the experience of scouting due to societal factors much more complex than the cosmic scout founders can understand. We’d love to finally get around to including those folx in a more meaningful way and growing the movement around that purpose.
The Very-Official Scouting-Order Website from Scout-Scouters of all ages and identities.
Three Tenants of Scouting
- Make up an Oath you can hold yourself to.
- Wear your badge on the outside.
- Go out and Scout!
The rest is up to you-