Silver Award (Venturing)

Silver Award
Medal and knot
Owner	Boy Scouts of America
Country	United States
Created	1998
Defunct	December 31, 2014

The Silver Award was the highest award in the Venturing program of the Boy Scouts of America from1998 through 2014. It required 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.^[1] The Silver Award was replaced by the Summit Award starting in 2014 and was discontinued on January 1, 2015.^[2]

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 Explorer program.^[3] 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.^[4] A total of 18,047 Explorers earned the Silver Award between 1949 and 1958.^[5]

The award was re-introduced in 1998 as part of Venturing and its current design is similar to its historic counterpart.^[6]

Purpose

The purpose of the Silver Award was to:^[7]

• 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 was 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.^{[8] [9]}

The highest awards in other BSA membership divisions are: the Cub Scouting Arrow of Light, the Boy Scouting Eagle Scout, the Sea Scouting Quartermaster Award, and the Varsity Scouting Denali Award. Other Scouting movements and many non-Scouting organizations have similar programs and awards.

See also

• Advancement and recognition in the Boy Scouts of America

References

1. Venturing Silver Award "Venturing Silver Award" Check |url= value (help). Boy Scouts of America. Retrieved May 28, 2007.
2. Wendell, Bryan (February 12, 2014). "New Venturing award names announced". Bryan on Scouting. Scouting.
3. "Highest Rank Awards of the Boy Scouts of America". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
4. "Ranger and Silver Awards Past and Present". Retrieved August 14, 2007.
5. "A History of Senior Scouting Programs in the BSA". Retrieved August 14, 2007.
6. "Silver Award Overview". U.S. Scouting Service Project. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
7. Boy Scouts of America: Venturing Handbook, page 52. 2006.
8. "Silver Outranks Gold". Retrieved November 11, 2011.
9. "Ask the Expert: Why does silver outrank gold in Scouting awards?". Retrieved November 11, 2011.