Silver Award (Boy Scouts of America)
Encyclopedia
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.
Recipients may wear the corresponding square knot insignia, with a silver knot and border on a green and white background on the BSA uniform.
program. The award was restyled in 1954 and awarded through 1958 when Explorer was renamed to Exploring and advancement was dropped. Air Explorers continued to be able to earn this award through 1964. A total of 18,047 Explorers earned the Silver Award between 1949 and 1958.
The award was re-introduced in 1998 as part of Venturing
and its current design is similar to its historic counterpart.
The highest awards in other BSA membership divisions are: the Cub Scouting Arrow of Light
, the Boy Scouting Eagle Scout
, and the Varsity Scouting Denali Award
. Other Scouting movements and many non-Scouting organizations have similar programs and awards.
Venturing (Boy Scouts of America)
Venturing is part of the program of the Boy Scouts of America for young adults, men and women, from the age of 14 years old or 13 years old and completed eighth grade through 21....
program of the Boy Scouts of America
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
. 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.
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 ExplorerExploring (Learning for Life)
Exploring is a worksite-based program of Learning for Life, a subsidiary of the Boy Scouts of America, for young men and women who are 14 through 20 years old...
program. The award was restyled in 1954 and awarded through 1958 when Explorer was renamed to Exploring and advancement was dropped. Air Explorers continued to be able to earn this award through 1964. A total of 18,047 Explorers earned the Silver Award between 1949 and 1958.
The award was re-introduced in 1998 as part of Venturing
Venturing (Boy Scouts of America)
Venturing is part of the program of the Boy Scouts of America for young adults, men and women, from the age of 14 years old or 13 years old and completed eighth grade through 21....
and its current design is similar to its historic counterpart.
Purpose
The purpose of the Silver Award is to:- Provide a pathway for personal development.
- Encourage Venturers to learn, grow and serve.
- Recognize the high level of achievement of Venturers who acquire Venturing skills.
- Identify trained and highly motivated Venturers who will be a training, leadership, and program resource for other Venturers, Scouts, organizations, and the community.
- Help define Venturing.
Highest awards in other programs
The Silver Award is the highest award in the Venturing program. Using the United States Military as the model, silver awards are higher than gold awards in the BSA.The highest awards in other BSA membership divisions are: the Cub Scouting Arrow of Light
Cub Scouts (Boy Scouts of America)
Cub Scouting is part of the Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America , available to boys from first through fifth-grade, or 7 to 11½ years of age and their families. Its membership is the largest of the three BSA Scouting Divisions...
, the Boy Scouting Eagle Scout
Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)
Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...
, and the Varsity Scouting Denali Award
Varsity Scouts (Boy Scouts of America)
Varsity Scouting is part of the Boy Scouting program of the BSA. It is an alternative available to boys ages fourteen to eighteen that takes the basic Boy Scouting program and adds high adventure, sporting, and other elements that are more appealing to older youth to accomplish the aims of...
. Other Scouting movements and many non-Scouting organizations have similar programs and awards.