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Badges, ranks and awards

Advancement

The Cub Scout program is full of ways to recognize what a kid has achieved. Here's how the ranks work, and where to find everything else.

Advancement is the family’s job, not the pack’s

Some requirements get done at den meetings, but most are done with you. You sign off on a requirement when you and your child agree they’ve done their best. That is exactly why the awards mean something to them.

The ranks

Bobcat
Everyone, first
The first rank every scout earns when they join, at any grade. Learn the Scout Oath, the Scout Law, the Cub Scout motto and sign, and complete a Youth Protection exercise with a parent.
Lion
Kindergarten
An introduction to scouting done almost entirely alongside an adult partner. Short, playful adventures.
Tiger
1st grade
Tigers work through achievements and electives in their handbook with an adult partner at their side for everything.
Wolf
2nd grade
Twelve achievements, each designed to teach a simple skill and start a family conversation about values, citizenship or health.
Bear
3rd grade
Complete twelve of twenty-four achievements. This is also when a scout can earn the Whittling Chip and carry a pocketknife.
Webelos
4th grade
A step toward Scouts BSA. Webelos work on the Webelos badge and a set of activity badges, and start camping more independently.
Arrow of Light
5th grade
The highest rank in Cub Scouting, and the only one a scout can wear on their uniform for the rest of their scouting life. Then they cross over to a troop.

Everything runs through ScoutBook

ScoutBook is your single best resource for seeing what a requirement actually asks for and for signing it off once your scout has done it. If you’re having any trouble getting in, email pack345sf@gmail.com — we’ll sort it out.

Beyond the ranks

There is a startling number of things a Cub Scout can earn. A partial list:

Awards for bravery and lifesaving

  • Honor Medal
  • Heroism Medal
  • Medal of Merit

Program awards

  • Cub Scout Outdoor Activity Award
  • World Conservation Award
  • Leave No Trace Awareness
  • Emergency Preparedness Award
  • Whittling Chip (Bear and up)
  • National Summertime Recognition Pin
  • Academics and Sports belt loops, pins and letters

Patches, strips and recognitions

  • Pinewood Derby and Regatta patches and medals
  • Camp patches, hiking and trail patches, family camping patch
  • District camporee patches
  • Interpreter strips, Recruiter strip, Denner cord
  • Service stars, attendance awards, Tiger graduation patch
  • International Activity Patch

Religious emblems

If your family follows a religion, your scout can earn an emblem reflecting their faith and wear the Religious Emblem square knot on their uniform. Like most such programs it is entirely optional — and Pack 345 itself is not religious.

Our own tradition: the hiking stick

Fifty miles of pack hikes earns a Pack 345 hiking stick. How Pack Miles work