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Welcome To OAFLAP.COMBSA Council Patch Name List
Contact Frank Kern of OAFLAP.COM
The following document is provided to the BSA collecting community as the first example of a council 'name' guide. I have listed
all known BSA Councils that made a patch, neckerchief, or neckerchief slide. I have also listed the council numbers to
uniquely identify organizations with the same charter name. Traditionally, most Council collecting guides place CSPs, CPs,
and RWS in separate listings. Each ignored neckerchiefs and activity patches. As a collector of 'names', I want ANY exmple
from each council, thus the formation of this list. I hope you enjoy it, it took 25 years of collecting to compile.
Click Here For Frank Kern's Council Patch Name List
The advanced collector will realize that this list is far from complete. There are approximately 150 councils listed in the
Wakin's book that are not on my list . I suspect there are another 150 councils listed in the Morse book that do not have
identified patches. This isn't to say these councils did not make a patch… many probably did, but I haven't found them yet.
Sources such eBay and Scout patch dealers find unlisted items on a regular basis - so please provide your input. I will
gladly add a new item once I see it or a photograph of sufficient size and resolution.
My prime directive for listing a patch is inclusion of the council name, initials, and/or number on the patch. To maintain
the integrity of the list, I must adhere to this rule without exception. I have seen too many examples of 'nameless' patches
attributed to organizations with questionable evidence and want to avoid unresolvable debates. Having said, that… I have
encountered some level of difficulty in generating this list. The first problem occurs when only the council number appears;
these may be troop issues. The second issue occurs when only the council initials appear; other organizations may have the same
initials (for example, the 1929 Black Mount Camp patch only has initials and is often confused as a Blue Mountain Council issue).
Also, after a council merger it is quite common for the old names to be used as district names. There are several cases where
badges made by these districts appear to be issues of the former council. Mid Columbia District of Columbia Pacific Council
is one such example. Finally, patches quite often list the council name different than listed on the charter, which means that
erroneous names may appear on checklists. These council names must be addressed on a case by case basis to determine authenticity.
NOTE: Incorrect council names & "AREA"
The council name appearing on a patch should never be taken as the official charter name because they are quite often incomplete
or incorrect. For example, patches from Cochise County and Milwaukee County omit the word 'County'. In a similar manner many
councils were chartered with the word "AREA" in their name, but left this word off the patch. Examples are issues from Mount Baker
Area, Tumwater Area, Cascade Area, etc. The opposite is also true. Some councils were never chartered with the word "AREA" in
their name, yet they issued patches including this word. Oregon Trail and Crater Lake Councils are examples. Furthermore, the
BSA annual reports often leave out the word 'Area' when listing councils leading to conflicting information as to the official
council name. Since many council listings were derived from these reports, many collector listings are in error. My literature
review from the key researchers (Hoogeveen, Breithaupt, Morse, Watkins) quite often conflict each other when the word 'Area'
appears in a council name. For this reason, I defer to the Morse book, which I believe is the most accurate unless I am able to
locate better a better source. The key outcome of this information is that I only list councils under the chartered name, not by
the name appearing on the patch. To be clear, when a council name exists with and without the word 'Area', I list both cases only
if a charter exists for both cases.
I actively search for my needs.
Please email me if you have interesting items in your trade book.
Mail all correspondence to
Frank Kern of OAFLAP.COM.
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