Merit badges may be earned in any order.
No merit badges are required for Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class ranks. Merit badges
can be earned while working on these rank advancements. It is strongly recommended that the
swimming merit badge be taken as one of the first merit badges.
The rank of Star requires six (6) merit badges, including four (4) of the required Eagle badges. One of
these should be a Citizenship merit badge.
The rank of Life requires an additional five (5) merit badges, including three (3) more from the required
Eagle badges. It is recommended that a second Citizenship merit badge be earned at this time. The
Scout will now have earned a total of eleven (11) merit badges.
The rank of Eagle requires a total of twenty one (21) merit badges. Of these, twelve (12) must be from
the required Eagle badges. The remaining nine (9) merit badges are of the Scout's own choosing.
The Boy Scout Handbook and the Boy Scout Requirement Book have a listing of all merit badges that
can be earned.
Before any Scout may begin work on a merit badge, he must secure a blue card from the Scoutmaster.
The card must be signed and dated by the Scoutmaster.
After obtaining a blue card, the Scout must contact a registered merit badge counselor. The
Advancement Chair keeps a complete and updated listing of all registered counselors in the District.
Once the merit badge is completed and is signed by the counselor, the Scout must return the completed
blue card to the Advancement Chair. The couselor keeps their portion of the blue card for their records.
All merit badges are awarded at the Troop 132 Courts of Honor.
All completed blue cards must beturned into the Advancement Chair two (2) weeks prior to the Court of
Honor. If not, the merit badge will be awarded at the next schedueld Court.
All blue cards and white merit badge cards must be saved. They are brought to all Boards of Review.
Plastic baseball card protector sheets for three ring binders work well to organize these cards. The blue
and white cards are proof to Council that the badge was earned and received in case of a mix up in
records.