Girl Scout Leader Pins
In the earliest days of Girl Scouting, Captains and Lieutenants (Leaders a& Co-leaders) wore the same uniform and earned badges just like the girls, it was important to be able to distinguish just who was in charge.
As Girl Scouting evolved special hat and shoulder cords and differences in the uniform developed and around 1916 the Captain's Pin was introduced. The gold 3-leaf clover sits atop a red, white and blue shield.
The Lieutenant's Pin was introduced in 1917 for adults to be worn until the adult passed the First Class Rank. Then they could wear the Captain's Pin.
The Lieutenant's Pin only lasted until 1922 and the Captain's Pin was discontinued in 1923.
1930 Brownie Girl Scout Leaders had unique pins for their uniforms. Brown Owls were the leaders and Tawny Owls were the assistant leaders of the first official Brownie Packs.
At first the pins were enameled brown,
switching to an orange-y enamel in 1934.
The Tawny Owl pin had a design change early on.
The Brownie Leader Guard, to be worn with the Membership Pin, was introduced.
Donna Coates of Redmond, Oregon writes:
This was my Mother's leader pin from the 1960's.
She was a retired school teacher
and took on a brownie troop when she
was in her late 60's.
The numeral stands for 5 years as a leader
and the Brownie for being a Brownie leader.
1968 was the launch of the mighty yellow Adult Position Pin, for leaders and assistant leaders. The position has been recently renamed, but the yellow remains.
For awhile, the felt tab was a medium green, then an evergreen. Finally, the saggy non-washable felt was dropped for a grosgrain ribbon.
Outstanding Leader; Version 1 (no words) 1987-2001, Version 2 - 2001-2011
Leadership Development Pin and Leaves 1987-2011