Eagle Scout Patches
In addition to the Eagle Scout medals embroidered patches were offered to the scouts after 1924. The first embroidered Eagle patches were issued to scouts attending the 1924 World Jamboree in Denmark.
Type 1-a1 Eagle on sash
Type 1-a3 Eagle Patch on tan twill
Type 1 1924-1932 (above) The very first Type 1's have a knot hanging below the scroll and are known as the Type 1-a1. It is highly sought among collectors. (Above, top) The Type 1-a2 omits the knot. The Type 1-a3 (above, bottom) has no knot and the scroll stays within the inner oval.
The Type 1 badge came in four colors: Navy felt, Tan twill, Olive twill, and White twill (not shown).
Drastic changes were in store after 1932.
Type 2 on olive twill
Type 2 1933-1955 (above) In 1933 the Eagle patch was redesigned and would be available on twill cloth in tan, white, blue, khaki and olive. It would also be available in cotton and silk thread.
Type 3a (left) Type 3b (right)
Type 3 1956-1972 (above) The newly redesigned Eagle patch had a rolled edge. The hard to find earlier Type 3a has a closed beak and is sought by collectors. The Type 3b has an open beak with guaze back. The Type 3c looks like the Type 3b but has a plastic backing.
Type 4
Type 4 1974-1976 (above) This type was a great departure from everything familiar in the Eagle badge. Variations include tail feathers below the perch and types with no tail feathers below the perch. Backs can be cloth, white threads showing a cloth backing and clear plastic. There was a groundswell of resistance to this design and the scouts started making unauthorized Eagle award patches based on the Type 3 design. Fortunately the Type 4 was short lived.
Type 5
Type 5 1975-1985 (above) Under pressure to regain an attractive, yet simple badge, the Eagle was once again redesigned with some more detail. Many variations of this type exist. Almost none of these patches look the same at all. The backs may be plastic with no guaze, plastic over guaze and a starched kind of guaze backing. It has been suggested that there was little quality control over this type which resulted in many small detail changes.
Type 6
Type 6 1985-1986 (above) 1985 brought the 75th Anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America and with it came the heavy use of silver mylar in just about anything embroidered. The Eagle patch now sported a sparkly rolled edge and eagle. However, silver mylar proved to be weak when it went through the wash. It lasted a year before the Type 7 was introduced.
Type 7
Type 7 1986-1989 (above) Type 7 eliminated the silver eagle but kept the silver on the rolled edge. The eagle would receive different color thread including light, medium and dark grey. These are considered sub-types of this Type 7. All have plastic backs.
Type 8a's
Type 8 1989-current (above) Silver mylar was finally done away with. The Type 8 produced many variations with sub-types of sub-types, but suffice to say that by this time the Eagle patch was finally coming to a nicely made attractive design with the zenith being the Type 8b's. Note the thick and thin letters and the loose or tight weave of the Red-White-Blue background. Although the original Type 1 exhibits many subtle variations it has not been given the microscopic attention allowed on the Type 8.
The 8b's (below) added some extra white stitching between the stripes of red, white and blue. By 2000 the Boy Scouts of America were producing their official patches with "Scout Stuff" logos printed on the plastic backing to designate official items.
Type 8b