Baltimore Area Council Jamboree Contingent Patches

The 1937 photo came with papers and a few other photos from Scout Joseph Simpson of Troop 65 in Baltimore; the Region III contingent troop pictured may include Scouts from other councils. Simpson was an adult leader by this time and probably served as an Assistant Scoutmaster with the contingent. The gateway has a turtle to the left and a crab to the right; this is the earliest use of a crab image I have seen associated with Scouting in Baltimore.

The shoulder flash shown is the one for the troop pictured in the contingent photo.

There was no single council issue for the 1964 Jamboree, but Troop 46 had homemade felt pennants and Troop 51 had a custom neckerchief.

In 1985, Baltimore Area Council issued its first Jamboree Shoulder Patch (JSP) for contingent Scouts to wear. Two of the four BAC Jamboree troops had one patrol each from the Transatlantic Council, so this JSP represented both councils.

1997 marked the first separate issue of contingent and trader JSPs. The “60th” on the sail of the boat reflects the 1997 celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the first BSA National Jamboree in 1937. The red-bordered version without the council name may be a prototype of this issue.

The “Troop 433” patch features a crab and was found with contemporary material from Baltimore, but I do not know whether it was an official issue. I could also use confirmation as to whether 433 was the number assigned to a Baltimore Area Council contingent troop; the only Troop 433 I can find in Maryland is in Olney, which is in the National Capital Area Council.

I do not know anything about the origin of the cut-edge shoulder patch dated 1997, saying “Baltimore”, with an image of the bombardment of Fort McHenry. As far as I know it was not an official council issue.

For 2001, the Baltimore Area Council JSP featured the USS Constellation and was designed by Rick Pumphrey. The borders were a different color for each of the six contingent troops. There were also black-bordered trading JSPs, silver-bordered JSPs for Jamboree Staff, and a gold-bordered JSP given to donors and made available to collectors in a limited number of complete sets.

An early order of the orange-bordered troop patches came in with a red-orange border that was too similar to the red borders also in use; these unwanted patches were sold off through the Council office.

The 2005 Jamboree contingent patches were again designed by Rick Pumphrey. The theme was “Baltimore in Action” and each of the nine troop patches and the Jamboree staff patch features one or more organizations providing service in Maryland.

The black-bordered patch was originally supposed to be a trader JSP containing the logos of the Baltimore Orioles, Baltimore Ravens, and Baltimore Blast, but the council was unable to get permission from the Ravens either for the standard Raven logo (with a “B” on the bird’s head) or the original version of the Raven logo (without the “B”). Patches were produced with these designs but could not be sold; most were given to the Jamboree participants, and some were gifts to donors or purchasers of the fundraiser set of patches.

Two patches were only available as part of the complete fundraiser sets sold through the council office. One was a version of the black-bordered patch which used a football with the word “Baltimore” instead of a Ravens logo. The other was a gold mylar bordered JSP featuring two Scouts and the Jamboree logo.

The design of the gold mylar JSP was also used with a yellow border as a “Thank You” gift for donors to the Jamboree effort.

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