BSA annually issues a publication entitled Boy Scout Requirements (currently BSA Publication No. 33216 - previously 33215), and periodically publishes revised pamphlets for each merit badge currently available to Scouts. Boy Scout Requirements is normally issued in January each year, and contains the official requirements for all Boy Scout rank advancements and all merit badges, plus those for other awards and emblems, ranging from the "Totin' Chip" to BSA Lifeguard. The requirements in the book are the official requirements from the date it is issued (typically January 1) through the end of the year (December 31), when the next edition becomes effective and official.
When there is a conflict between two published lists of requirements, such as Boy Scout Requirements and a Merit Badge Pamphlet, the requirements book should be considered to be the controlling document, until a newer edition of Boy Scout Requirements is issued, unless BSA specifically states otherwise in an official publication, such as their website, Boy's Life Magazine, or Scouting Magazine.
Scouts should note that the requirements in Boy Scout Requirements may be (and frequently are) different from those printed in their copy of the Boy Scout Handbook, or the merit badge pamphlet they are using, because Boy Scout Requirements is updated annually, and the handbook and pamphlets are not. Even if the handbook or pamphlet was printed this year, the content, including the requirements, may not have been updated from those when the book was last revised.
BSA issued new editions of ALL of the merit badge pamphlets in August, 2008. In some cases, the new pamphlets had major revisions at that time, while others only involved changes to the illustrations (which went from black and white to color).
Since 2002, the requirements for every merit badge but one (Pets) has been revised in some manner. Again, some of the changes were major, while others were only very minor.
BSA does NOT hold the publications of merit badge pamphlets until January each year. Instead, they issue them as they are completed (and old stocks are exhausted, probably). Then in January, Boy Scout Requirements should include all revisions to date.
So there are occasions when Scouts and Merit Badge Counselors may consider using other, newer requirements for advancement. When new pamphlets are issued, which contain new requirements, even though the official requirements remain those in Boy Scout Requirement, Scouts should have the option of starting with the new requirements as soon as the pamphlets are issued, since they should be more up to date than the previous version, or they may start work using the old requirements until the next edition of Boy Scout Requirements is issued.
Those Scouts working on any badges using the old requirements and who started before the new books were issued may complete the badge using the old requirements. Those starting work on the badge after the new books are issued, may use either the old or new requirements, at their option. For RANK requirement changes, Scouts must normally meet the CURRENT requirements when they are ready for their Board of Review, unless special rules apply (as was the case for the change in First Class requirements in 2006).
Since 1995, we have been preparing analyses of all of the changes in the annual editions of Boy Scout Requirements. These analyses have been published on our web site as listed below.
- Requirements Changes which became effective on January 1, 2013
- Requirements Changes which became effective on January 1, 2012
- Requirements Changes which became effective on January 1, 2011
- Requirements Changes which became effective during 2010 on or after April 1, 2010
- Requirements Changes which became effective on January 1, 2010
- Requirements Changes which became effective on January 1, 2009
- Requirements Changes which became effective on January 1, 2008
- Requirements Changes which became effective on January 1, 2007
- Requirements Changes which became effective on January 1, 2006
- Requirements Changes which became effective on January 1, 2005
- Requirements Changes which became effective on January 1, 2004
- Requirements Changes which became effective on January 1, 2003
- Requirements Changes which became effective on January 1, 2002
- Requirements Changes which became effective on January 1, 2001
- Requirements Changes which became effective on January 1, 2000
- Requirements Changes which became effective on April 1, 1999
- Requirements Changes which became effective
on January 1, 1998
- Rank Requirements Changes which became effective on January 1, 1998
- Merit Badge Requirements Changes which became effective on January 1, 1998
- Merit Badges where the requirements were rewritten and which became effective on January 1, 1998
- New Merit Badges which became available on January 1, 1998
- Requirements Changes which became effective on September 1, 1995
These analyses were prepared as a service to Scouts and
Scouters nationwide by
Paul S. Wolf
Secretary, US Scouting Service Project, Inc.
Printed copies of the documents may be freely distributed for use in the Scouting program, so long as the source is acknowledged, but copying the information to another web site is NOT authorized.
