Baltimore Area Council Jamboree Contingent Patches

The 1937 photo came with papers and a few other photos from Scout Joseph Simpson of Troop 65 in Baltimore; the Region III contingent troop pictured may include Scouts from other councils. Simpson was an adult leader by this time and probably served as an Assistant Scoutmaster with the contingent. The gateway has a turtle to the left and a crab to the right; this is the earliest use of a crab image I have seen associated with Scouting in Baltimore.

The shoulder flash shown is the one for the troop pictured in the contingent photo.

There was no single council issue for the 1964 Jamboree, but Troop 46 had homemade felt pennants and Troop 51 had a custom neckerchief.

In 1985, Baltimore Area Council issued its first Jamboree Shoulder Patch (JSP) for contingent Scouts to wear. Two of the four BAC Jamboree troops had one patrol each from the Transatlantic Council, so this JSP represented both councils.

1985 was also the first time that Nentico Lodge issued a Jamboree contingent patch. This was one of only four lodge flaps commemorating the 1985 Jamboree.

1997 marked the first separate issue of contingent and trader JSPs. The “60th” on the sail of the boat reflects the 1997 celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of the first BSA National Jamboree in 1937. The red-bordered version without the council name may be a prototype of this issue.

The “Troop 433” patch features a crab and was found with contemporary material from Baltimore, but I do not know whether it was an official issue. I could also use confirmation as to whether 433 was the number assigned to a Baltimore Area Council contingent troop; the only Troop 433 I can find in Maryland is in Olney, which is in the National Capital Area Council.

I do not know anything about the origin of the cut-edge shoulder patch dated 1997, saying “Baltimore”, with an image of the bombardment of Fort McHenry. As far as I know it was not an official council issue.

For 2001, the Baltimore Area Council JSP featured the USS Constellation and was designed by Rick Pumphrey. The borders were a different color for each of the six contingent troops. There were also black-bordered trading JSPs, silver-bordered JSPs for Jamboree Staff, and a gold-bordered JSP given to donors and made available to collectors in a limited number of complete sets.

An early order of the orange-bordered troop patches came in with a red-orange border that was too similar to the red borders also in use; these unwanted patches were sold off through the Council office.

A round patch was issued for contingent Troop 506; as far as I know no other troops had separate patches.

The 2005 Jamboree contingent patches were again designed by Rick Pumphrey. The theme was “Baltimore in Action” and each of the nine troop patches and the Jamboree staff patch features one or more organizations providing service in Maryland.

The black-bordered patch was originally supposed to be a trader JSP containing the logos of the Baltimore Orioles, Baltimore Ravens, and Baltimore Blast, but the council was unable to get permission from the Ravens either for the standard Raven logo (with a “B” on the bird’s head) or the original version of the Raven logo (without the “B”). Patches were produced with these designs but could not be sold; most were given to the Jamboree participants, and some were gifts to donors or purchasers of the fundraiser set of patches.

Two patches were only available as part of the complete fundraiser sets sold through the council office. One was a version of the black-bordered patch which used a football with the word “Baltimore” instead of a Ravens logo. The other was a gold mylar bordered JSP featuring two Scouts and the Jamboree logo.

The design of the gold mylar JSP was also used with a yellow border as a “Thank You” gift for donors to the Jamboree effort.

The 2010 Jamboree contingent patches were designed by Justin Lloyd. The theme is the upcoming 2014 bicentennial of the Battle of Baltimore, when Fort McHenry in the Baltimore Harbor was bombarded by the British fleet. The sight of the large American flag after the battle inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem “The Star-Spangled Banner”, which later became our National Anthem.

The US flag that flew over Fort McHenry before, during, and after the battle had fifteen starts and fifteen stripes; there are fifteen individual patches in the 2010 Jamboree set (twelve CSPs and three square center patches).

Three “uncut” circles, each with four CSP designs grouped around a square flag patch, were sold as fundraiser sets.

The 2013 Jamboree contingent patches were designed by a group of youth Jamboree participants. Rachael created the Chessie graphic, and the other members of the design team were Jay, Evan, Christen, Nealon, Edmund, Michael, Chris, Matthew, Colin, Colin, James, Henry, Andrew, Ronnie, Nick, and Daniel.

The theme is the legendary Chesapeake Bay sea monster “Chessie”, who is pictured with various Baltimore landmarks and attractions. “Chessie” is raised for a 3-D effect on all the patches. The trader patch plays music; the player, batteries, and a start button are attached to the back of the patch, connected with wires.

A two-part set was designed in the hope that Nentico Lodge would issue it for the Jamboree contingent; when the lodge did not choose to create a set, the Jamboree Committee issued the “Baltimore’s First Summit” set with the Bromo-Seltzer tower.

It is likely that there are additional troop-specific neckerchiefs not pictured here.

The 2017 Jamboree contingent patches are based on the theme of Aviation in Maryland.

Nentico Lodge issued a Jamboree flap that also commemorated the lodge’s 95th anniversary. This was only the second time the lodge issued a Jamboree flap.

The 2023 Jamboree contingent patches have a space theme. The JSPs were designed to fit around the side of the large jacket patch.

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