We love badges
Which one is your favourite?
We love badges
Which one is your favourite?
‘I love collecting my badges. It’s a great reminder of all the fun things I’ve done through guiding.’
Badges have been a part of Girlguiding for more than a hundred years. They’re an important part of who we are, and we all love them.
We still have lots of badges that challenge young members and celebrate their achievements, and ones to mark occasions and events too. When we changed our programme in 2018, we introduced interest badges for all sections which were all based on themes that followed young members through their guiding journey. And with all the amazing collections out there, we wanted to know – what are your favourite badges?
Members' favourite badges
Abigail is a Rainbow from Aberdeen and has a t-shirt full of badges! Her favourites are the I celebrated The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee fun badge and the Queen’s 95th birthday badge. Abigail’s mum, Claire, says: ‘I also bought her the special pin badge to mark the Jubilee and my daughter enjoyed a Jubilee jamboree locally with other Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Rangers. Precious memories!’
Kimberley’s daughter Jess was a Rainbow and has just joined Brownies. They couldn’t pick a favourite! But they loved tidying up their neighbourhood by picking up litter for the Helper badge. Jess also tried out Tae Kwon Do for her Agility badge. She also really loved taking care of her dog Dusty for her Animal lover badge and has carried on helping out with him.
Guide Lily has enjoyed encouraging Guide friends to do badges and has good ideas to convince them! She hosted a mocktail and pizza party for their Mixology badge which they all planned together. For her birthday this year, the theme for her party was beauty treatments and they all worked on their Natural remedies badge. Both times her Guide leader acknowledged their work and awarded them all their badges.
Emily is a Rainbow leader. She says: ‘I like the Be well section of the programme. My favourite interest badge that the Rainbows can achieve is Healthy mind as I am a mental health nurse. It really gets the girls learning ways to manage their emotions at an age-appropriate level.’
Daisy, who’s part of 43rd Kingswood Longwell Green Guides, has loads of badges and has had to buy a second blanket because her first one was getting full! Her favourite badge is the I love badges fun badge. She says: ‘It’s really cool as I really do love badges. I bought it at Wellies and Wristbands 2022 - my first Guide camp!’
Zoe began her guiding journey as a Rainbow in 1996 and has been collecting badges ever since. When she started her own Rainbow unit, she started a unit blanket and every time a girl gets a badge, they sew one on the blanket too so they can use it as a discussion point and to tell the unit’s history.
‘Badges are the best thing about guiding, I love getting comfy with my guiding blanket that has all my badges.’
Speaking to the people behind the badges
We asked some of our staff at HQ what their favourite badges were too.
Jade manages events at the activity centres, and her favourite badge is the Connecting with Nature badge from a recent Generation Green project.
‘This was a first big project we did at the centres after we reopened post-Covid, so for me it symbolises getting back to adventure,’ she says. ‘It’s also just a lovely badge showing what we offer at the centres.’
Amelia works in the programme team. She says: ‘My favourite badge is the Rainbows Animal lover interest badge. Apart from the super cute design and the fact I am a huge animal lover, I love hearing about how Rainbows chose to complete this badge and what pet they chose to create, - we have had everything from a pet rock to a pet pinecone! It’s wonderful to see their imagination and creativity come to life.’
David designs lots of our badges and says: ‘I really like the badges with backstories, like the badge we created with the Royal British Legion in 2020. The swallow is depicted on the badge as it is a reference to Guides who came to Britain during the second world war and were nicknamed ‘golondrinas’, or swallows. These refugees, who had escaped occupied lands in Europe, stayed here for a while until it was safe to return to their homes, which parallels the swallows’ migration pattern.
‘I also like the Together at heart Covid-19 badge, raising money for the NHS as well as supporting our members during the Covid-19 pandemic. It was also really nice to work on as it was based on a winning design from one of our Guides.’
The bestselling badges of 2022
1. The Queen's Platinum Jubilee commemorative woven badge
2. I celebrated The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee fun badge
3. World Thinking Day 2022 woven badge
4. Brownies Promise metal badge
5. Rainbows Promise metal badge
The bestselling badges of 2022
1. The Queen's Platinum Jubilee commemorative woven badge
2. I celebrated The Queen's Platinum Jubilee fun badge
3. World Thinking Day 2022 woven badge
4. Brownies Promise metal badge
5. Rainbows Promise metal badge
‘My blankets are my history. From my hostess badge in Brownies to my Pride 2022 badge and everything in between, they are a reflection of my life over the years.’
And 21,633 people bought our UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 woven badge, inspired by the Lionesses’ amazing performance!
Our best-selling events badge of all time is the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee woven badge which 386,963 people bought, and our Brownie promise badge is the bestselling badge of all time.
Want to add to your collection?
Buy the In memory of our patron, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II woven and metal badge or the Merry Christmas badge from our online shop.
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