Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth social movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking, and sports. Another widely recognized movement characteristic is the Scout uniform, by intent hiding all differences of social standing in a country and encouraging equality, with neckerchief and campaign hat or comparable headwear. Distinctive uniform insignia include the fleur-de-lis and the trefoil, as well as merit badges and other patches.
Cubs or Wolf Cubs are programs associated with some Scout organizations, for young children usually between 8 and 12 who are too young to be Scouts. A participant in the program is called a Cub. A group of Cubs is called a "Pack".
The Scout Association is the largest Scout organisation in the United Kingdom. Following the rapid development of the Scout Movement from 1907, The Scout Association was formed in 1910 and incorporated in 1912 by a royal charter under its previous name of The Boy Scouts Association. It is a founding member organisation of the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
The Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) was Burma's ruling party from 1962 to 1988 and the sole legal party from 1964 to 1988. Party chairman Ne Win overthrew the country's democratically elected government in a coup d'état on 2 March 1962. For the next 26 years, the BSPP governed Burma under a totalitarian military dictatorship, until mass protests in 1988 pressured party officials to adopt a multi-party system.
Scouts Australia is a trading name of The Scout Association of Australia, which is the largest scouting organisation in Australia, with over 50,000 Youth Program Participants, and is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. It was formed in 1958 and incorporated in 1967. It operates personal development programs for children and young adults from 5 to 25 years of age with programs successively opened to girls after 1971.
Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs is the largest Scouting and Guiding organization in Austria and the only one approved by World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) and the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). The association claims more than 300 troops with more than 85,000 Scouts nationwide. WOSM and WAGGGS give quite smaller membership values for the PPÖ: 27,274 members in WOSM and 10,508 members in WAGGGS.
The Afghanistan National Scout Organization was officially founded in 1931 in Afghanistan by a royal decree. The site of Robert Baden-Powell's second posting in 1880, Afghanistan was a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement from 1932 until the Afghan government dissolved the Scout Association in 1947. Afghan Scouting was formed again from 1964 to 1978 and recognized by the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
The Myanmar Scout Association is the national Scouting organization in Myanmar. Scouting in Myanmar was started in 1916 and disbanded in 1964 due to country's political changes; the current organization was formed in 2012 under the supervision and support of the Ministry of Education of Myanmar and became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement on 11 August 2016. It has about 21,007 members.
Scouting Nederland is the national Scout organisation of the Netherlands with approximately 110,000 members (53,324 male and 54,663 female, 87,000 youth members, as of 2010.
The Bangladesh Scouts is the national Scouting organization of Bangladesh. Now The Chief Scout of Bangladesh is Mohammed Shahabuddin. Scouting was founded in 1914 in East Bengal, now Bangladesh, as part of the British Indian branch of The Scout Association, and continued as part of the Pakistan Boy Scouts Association until the country's divided sections split in 1971 during the Bangladesh Liberation War. Following its independence, in 1972, the Bangladesh Boy Scout Association was officially formed as successor of the Pakistan Boy Scouts Association. Bangladesh became an independent member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1974. The organization changed its name to "Bangladesh Scouts" in 1978. The organization has 2,261,351 members as of 2021.
Scouting started in Victoria, Australia, as early as 1907 and local Boy Scout patrols and troops formed independently. Several separate central organisations began operating including Boys' Brigade Scouts, Church Lads' Brigade Scouts, Chums Scouts, Imperial Boy Scouts, Girl Peace Scouts, Imperial Boy Scouts Victoria Section, Imperial Boy Scouts Victorian Section, Gippsland Boy Scouts Association, Australian Boy Scouts, Australian Imperial Boy Scouts, The Boy Scouts Association, Life-Saving Scouts of the Salvation Army and Methodist Boy Scouts.
Scouting and Guiding in Queensland is represented by Scouts Australia, Girl Guides Australia, Plast Ukrainian Scouts, and the Australian Baden-Powell Scouts' Association.
Scouting started in New South Wales, a State of Australia, in 1908. In the early years, local Boy Scout patrols and troops formed independently and several separate associations began operating including the Chums Scout Patrols, League of Boy Scouts, Girl Peace Scouts, Boys Brigade Scouts and Church Lads Brigade Scouts. These were later joined by The Boy Scouts Association, The Girl Guides Association and Life-Saving Scouts and Life Saving Guards of the Salvation Army. Some local Scout groups moved affiliation between the different associations.
Scouting in the United States is dominated by the 1.2 million-member Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of the USA and other associations that are recognized by one of the international Scouting organizations. There are also a few smaller, independent groups that are considered to be "Scout-like" or otherwise Scouting related.
There are various controversies and conflicts that involve the Scouting movement. Scouting has sometimes become entangled in social controversies such as in nationalist resistance movements in India. Scouting was introduced to Africa by British officials as an instrument of colonial authority but became a subversive challenge to the legitimacy of British imperialism as Scouting fostered solidarity amongst African Scouts. There are also controversies and challenges within the Scout Movement itself such as current efforts to turn Scouts Canada into a democratic organization.
The Scout and Guide movement in Australia consists of:
The Scout and Guide movement in Malta is served by three organizations:
Girl Guides is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909, when girls requested to join the then-grassroots Boy Scout Movement.
There are many national organisations in the United Kingdom and its overseas territories that have been established to provide services to people under the age of 18.
Lanzin Youth Organization was a youth organization in Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma for high school and university students to learn useful skills and about the socialist politics of the Burma Socialist Programme Party. It consisted of three main branches: Teza Youth, Shehsaung Youth and Lanzin Youth. Teza Youth wore blue scarf and Pioneer Youth wore the red scarf.
