The Cub Scout Religious Emblem program offers a partnership between the boy’s family, the family’s religious leaders, and Scouting, to explore age-appropriate faith issues, at the satisfactory conclusion of which the award is earned. To be age-appropriate, there are four separate Religious Emblem programs by grade level - for boys in Grades 1-3, then Grades 4-5, then Grades 6-8, and finally Grades 9-12. Although Scouting promotes and requires a belief in a supreme being, it does NOT promote or advance any particular faith. There are approximately 40-50 different religious faiths and denominations which partner with Scouting for the Religious Emblem program. Each faith or denomination partnering with Scouting has developed a curriculum and workbooks for its own Religious Emblem Award, age-appropriate by the four grade levels referred to above. Cub Scouts who complete their faith’s Religious Emblem program, for each grade level in which earned, receive a Religious Emblem medal, as well as a cloth “knot” patch, both of which can be worn proudly on the Scout uniform. As with the academic and sports loops, the choice of working on the Religious Emblem Award is completely optional with the Cub Scout. 

The Religious Awards program is designed to be worked upon as a joint effort between the Scout, his family, and his family’s religious leaders. However, it should be noted that for Scouts of the Protestant Christian faith, regardless of denomination, Mr. Don Cleaver, an elder with Westminster Presbyterian Church, our pack’s chartering organization, is willing to teach Religious Awards classes to boys and families who want to organize and commit to such a class.

For more information on the Religious Emblem program, try these websites:

US Scouting Service Project - Religious Awards
P.R.A.Y
BSA FAQ on Religious Awards