THE scout ASSOCIATION QUALITY TRAINING FOR QUALITY SCOUTING OF MALTA The World Membership Badge Scouts around the world wear the World Membership Badge but questions are often The Encyclopaedia Britannica gives another asked about the origins of this Scout interesting version. It was that the "wind emblem. rose", which is much older than the magnetic maritime compass, first appeared The basic design of the emblem is used by on the charts of Mediterranean pilots. The Scouts in all the 216 Scouting countries and eight main wind directions were shown by territories. The Scout emblem is one of the Greek letters. One wind was marked with a more widely recognised symbols in the "T" for Tramontana, the north wind. In time world, because it has been worn by an the "T" was embellished or combined with estimated 300 million former Scouts and is an arrowhead and the "T" was no longer currently used by more than 25 million recognisable. present Scouts. Direction-pointing is only one traditional use There is evidence that the basic arrowhead of the arrowhead design. It has also been design was being used as a direction used in very ornate versions on the coats of symbol by the Chinese as early as 2000 arms of old, wealthy families. Sometimes the B.C. The Larousse Encyclopaedia notes that design was intended to represent a lance or some Etruscan bronzes and Roman spear, a lily (fleur-de-lys), and even a bee or ornaments carried the design. Also, it has a toad. been found on ancient monuments in Egypt and India. So today, even as the arrowhead continues to point the way for compass users around Marco Polo brought it to Europe when he the world, the same arrowhead, selected by returned with a compass from Cathay at the Scouting's Founder, points the way to end of the 13th Century. The Grand service and unity for Scouts. Encyclopaedia credits an Italian marine pilot named Flavio Giojo of Amalfi for drawing it An explanation of the meaning of the World as the north point of the primitive compass Scout Emblem appears overleaf. he built. INFORMATION SOURCE: World Scout Bureau Fact Sheet June 1985 THE scout ASSOCIATION OF MALTA FSID011 Page 1 of 2 THE scout ASSOCIATION QUALITY TRAINING FOR QUALITY SCOUTING OF MALTA THE WORLD SCOUT EMBLEM – ITS MEANING THE scout ASSOCIATION OF MALTA FSID011 Page 2 of 2 .