Talk:Merit badge

Dates

Looking at revision dates, I think there was a lot of confusion between requirement dates and pamphlet dates, so I added the column on pamphlets. The BSA just added a list of pamphlets, so I went with those dates. In fact, the BSA site now has listings for all of the Boy Scout requirements. The table is now sortable- just click on the icon in the top row. --Gadget850 ( Ed) 10:54, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Good catch on the dates. They only change the requirements about once every 5 years. COOL SORTING!. I didn't know that could be done in wiki.Rlevse 11:35, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

See Help:Sorting for more info on sorting. Full dates need special formatting. --Gadget850 ( Ed) 12:06, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Former Eagle required

If we are going to start noting the merit badges formerly required for Eagle, there are going to be a lot of notes. For example, Cooking, Bird Study, Pioneering, Athletics, Nature, Soil and Water Conservation, Safety and more were all once required. The scope of the article is on the current requirements. --Gadget850 ( Ed) 13:00, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

Agree with Gadget, the person that made those entries only noted more recent ones. The list of former requireds is VERY long, going all the way back to 1910.Rlevse 13:22, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

Images- old and new

Some merit badges have two images. Aviation, Journalism, Nuclear Science and Railroading looks like they have both an older and a redesigned badge; Cycling, Family Life, Safety and Sports have images with the green border and with the silver border. Again, within the scope of this article, these should use the current images. --Gadget850 ( Ed) 13:38, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

Images in lists

As noted at WT:SCOUT#Image use, we should not use images in lists. We don't have articles on most of these badges, so we don't have anywhere to use these images. --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 11:11, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

Concur. — Rlevse • Talk • 11:35, 20 September 2008 (UTC)

Someone earns all 121 badges

[1], a story I noticed in the Chicago Tribune about "LINCOLN PARK, Mich. - An 18-year-old from Lincoln Park is being honored for earning all of the Boy Scouts' 121 merit badges." The article claims he's the first to do so since the Scouts founding in 1910. Thought someone might want to add this somehow.Heironymous Rowe (talk) 03:32, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

One of 70 known Scouts who have earned all merit badges, including Michael Arsenault who earned 131 in 1993.[2] --—— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk - 21:49, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Title

I'd like to propose moving Merit badge (Boy Scouts of America)] to List of merit badges in the Boy Scouts of America and History of merit badges (Boy Scouts of America) to merit badges in the Boy Scouts of America. I think these titles are more typical for Wikipedia and are more on-topic. Tuf-Kat (talk) 22:37, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

• Opposed to the history one. This article is specifically about the history (evolution) of the badges, not MBs in general. If you look at the FACs on this article, you'll find a lot of talk about the article title and this is the one settled on. Don't care about the first one. — Rlevse • Talk • 23:13, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

For the table

How about coloring the boxes for required MBs in silver? Purplebackpack89 (talk) 00:18, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

I'm going to be cleaning up the table soon. The direct links to Meritbadge.org need to go and some other cleanup. We have four new merit badges (Scuba, Scouting Heritage, Robotics, GPS) plus four classic badges returning for 2010 only (Tracking, Signaling, Blacksmithing). ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 01:57, 22 November 2009 (UTC)

I'll be peeved if heritage isn't a campaign hat. Up or down on the silver? Purplebackpack89 (talk) 06:03, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Up on silver, and can you link me to a source on the classic merit badges? --Conor Fallon (talk) 02:19, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

Don't have a reliable source yet on the classics. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 12:17, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

On the color— the Manual of Style says not to use colored text. How about we highligh the row:

Name	Created	Requirements revision	Pamphlet revision	Further reading
Bugling	1911	2003	2008	Bugle
Camping	1911	2005	2008	Camping

---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 14:11, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

Excellent. That's exactly what I had intended. You just can't highlight the text unless it's in a table. Maybe c0c0c0 instead of dcdcdc Purplebackpack89 (talk) 18:02, 26 November 2009 (UTC)

What should I do with this table

I made a table of the original 57 merit badges. Where should it go?

Merit badge	Subject matter	Status
Agriculture	Agriculture	Merged into Plant Science, 1975
Angling	Angling, Fishing	Renamed Fishing in 1911
Archery	Archery
Architecture	Architecture	Arch logo used continuously for 100 years
Art	Art	Palette log used continuously for 100 years
Astronomy	Astronomy
Athletics	Athletics	Wingfoot logo used continuously for 100 years
Automobiling	Automobile safety	Exists today “Traffic Safety”
Aviation	Aviation
Bee Farming	Beekeeping	Discontinued 1995
Blacksmithing	Blacksmithing	Discontinued, Re-released for 2010 only
Bugling	Bugle
Business	Business	Renamed American Business in 1966.
Camping	Camping
Carpentry	Carpentry	Partially replaced by Woodwork, 1952
Chemistry	Chemistry	Flask logo used continuously for 100 years
Civics	Citizenship	Renamed Citizenship, later split into Home, Community, Nation, and World
Conservation	Conservation	Exists today as Fish and Wildlife Management and Environmental Science
Cooking	Cooking
Craftsmanship	Artisan	Split into various Building and Handicraft merit badges
Cycling	Cycling
Dairying	Dairy farming	Merged into Animal Science, 1975
Electricity	Electricity
Firemanship	Fire safety	Renamed Fire Safety in 1995
First Aid	First aid	Cross logo used continuously for 100 years
First Aid to Animals	Veterinary medicine|Renamed Veterinary Medicine
Forestry	Forestry
Gardening	Gardening
Handicraft	Handicraft	Split into various Building and Handicraft merit badges
Horsemanship	Equestrianism
Interpreting	Interpreting	Discontinued 1952
Invention	Inventing	Discontinued 1915, but re-introduced for 2010
Leatherworking	Leatherworking	Renamed “Leatherwork”
Lifesaving	Lifesaving	Life preserver logo used continuously for 100 years
Machinery	Machinery	Discontinued 1995
Marksmanship	Shooting	Split into Rifle Shooting and Shotgun Shooting
Masonry	Masonry	Discontinued in 1995
Mining	Mining	Renamed Geology
Music	Music	Lyre logo used continuously for 100 years
Ornithology	Ornithology	Was originally required for Eagle, replaced by Bird Study
Painting	Paint
Pathfinding	Orienteering	Replaced by Orienteering
Personal Health	Physical Fitness	Replaced by Personal Fitness in 1952
Photography	Photography
Pioneering	Pioneering
Plumbing	Plumbing	Faucet logo used continuously for 100 years
Poultry Farming	Poultry	Merged into Animal Science, 1975
Printing	Printing	Merged into Graphic Arts, 1987
Public Health	Public Health	Torch logo used continuously for 100 years
Scholarship	Scholarship	Logo used continuously for 100 years
Sculpture	Sculpture
Seamanship	Boating
Signaling	Semaphore	Discontinued in 1992, Re-released for 2010 only
Stalking	Tracking	Discontinued 1952
Surveying	Surveying
Swimming	Human swimming
Taxidermy	Taxidermy	Discontinued in 1952

Purplebackpack89 (talk) 03:02, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

Discontinued merit badges (Boy Scouts of America)? Do you have a source for the 2010 classic merit badges? I heard that Tracking was one of them. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 03:56, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

You were my "source" for that. Probably should delete the retro badges until the first of the year. Purplebackpack89 (talk) 04:28, 15 December 2009 (UTC)

But am I a reliable source?

Anyway, this is best for the discontinued list. The Chemistry logo is specifically a retort. ---— Gadget850 (Ed) ^talk 12:06, 15 December 2009 (UTC)