Silver Award (Boy Scouts of America)

The Silver Award is the highest award in the Venturing program of the Boy Scouts of America. It requires Venturers to first earn one of five Bronze Awards, earn the Gold Award, have one year's tenure in a crew, and fulfill requirements relating to emergency preparedness, leadership skills, and ethics-in-action. [cite web |url=http://www.scouting.org/venturing/awards/silver.html Venturing Silver Award |title=Venturing Silver Award |accessdate=2007-05-28 |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |format= |work= |publisher=Boy Scouts of America |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]

Award

The award consists of a medal suspended from a white ribbon with green stripes; the ribbon is suspended from an antique silver colored bar bearing the word VENTURING. The medal is an antique silver colored roundel with red, white and blue enameled stripes, the universal Boy Scout logo at the top with a superimposed eagle in flight, and the words VENTURING SILVER in the border.

Recipients may wear the corresponding square knot insignia, with a silver knot and border on a green and white background on the BSA uniform.

Origins

The original Silver Award was first issued from 1949 to 1954 as part of the BSA's Explorer Program. [cite web |url=http://home.pcmagic.net/ogdenj/scout/pages/hiranks.htm |title=Highest Rank Awards of the Boy Scouts of America |accessdate=2007-08-14 |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] The award was restyled in 1954 and awarded through 1958 when the Explorer Program was renamed the Exploring program and advancement was dropped. Air Explorers continued to be able to earn this award through 1964. [cite web |url=http://www.sageventure.com/history/ranger/awards.htm |title=Ranger and Silver Awards Past and Present |accessdate=2007-08-14 |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ] A total of 18,047 Explorers earned the Silver Award between 1949 and 1958. [cite web |url=http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Falls/8826/ |title=A History of Senior Scouting Programs in the BSA |accessdate=2007-08-14 |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |format= |work= |publisher= |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]

The award was re-introduced in 1998 as part of Venturing and its current design is similar to its historic counterpart. [cite web |url=http://usscouts.org/advance/venturing/SilverAwardFacts.html |title=Silver Award Overview |accessdate=2007-05-28 |author= |authorlink= |coauthors= |date= |format= |work= |publisher=U.S. Scouting Service Project |pages= |language= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote= ]

Highest awards in other programs

The Silver Award is the highest award in the Venturing program. The highest awards in other BSA membership divisions are: the Cub Scouting Arrow of Light, the Boy Scouting Eagle Scout, the Varsity Scouting Denali Award and the Sea Scouting Quartermaster Award. Other Scouting movements and many non-Scouting organizations have similar programs and awards.

References

ee also

*Advancement and recognition in the Boy Scouts of America