Boy Scouts of America

The Boy Scouts of America is a uniformed youth organization in the United States dedicated to promoting self-esteem, citizenship, outdoors skills and leadership in young men, especially through group activities such as camping. Through different activities and mastery of different skills, boys earn ranks and merit badges. Because of their image of doing good deeds, insultingly referring to someone as a Boy Scout meant that they were an overly idealistic do-gooder or excessively moral outdoorsman.

The Scouting movement began in England in 1907, and spread worldwide, with the Boy Scouts of America established in the United States in 1910. Other Scout organizations also formed in the US, but eventually merged with the BSA or dissolved.

Indy's adventures in the Scouts[]

While living in the Southwest, Indiana Jones was a Boy Scout, attaining the rank of Life Scout (at that time, the third-highest rank - currently it is the second-highest rank),^[1] where he learned Indian sign language.^[2] Despite this, Jones was more interested in making fresh discoveries than in earning the merit badges from the organization's manual,^[3] but the Boy Scouts had him enjoy horseback a lot and get a taste for adventure.^[4] In 1912, while on a Scout horseback camping trip in Utah, Indy and his friend fellow scout Herman discovered treasure hunters in a canyon.^[1]

Jones kept the tattered cover and a clipping about Scout ranks from the Scout handbook in his journal. He also detailed preparations for the Utah camping trip, referring to their destination as Arches National Park.^[5]

In 1933 Indy still carried a card of the Scout Oath with him.^[6]

In 1937, the thief Amanda Knight called Indiana Jones a "Boy Scout" as she hit him over the head with a chair after he rescued her.^[7]

Mutt Williams wear the pin of the Cub Scout's "Bobcat" award on the lapel of his motorcycle jacket, perhaps a momento from his younger days as a Scout.

Boy Scouts[]

Scoutmaster Havelock
Henry "Indiana" Jones
Herman Mueller
Carter
Ketts
Tuff
Zebb
unnamed Scouts in Indy's troop, including the credited roles of Scout 1 and Scout 2

Behind the scenes[]

Stephen Spielberg in a 1989 Boy Scouts promotional story for USA Weekend. — Stephen Spielberg in a 1989 Boy Scouts promotional story for *USA Weekend*.

Indiana Jones is show having earned the rank of Life Scout. There are several claims as to why this is:

He was supposed to be an Eagle Scout, but because the Eagle badge could only be purchased for verified Eagle Scouts, the character’s rank was lowered. (Critics of this theory note that a costume department with a big budget could have obtained or otherwise made one. Also, in 1912, unlike today, Life Scout was two ranks below Eagle Scout, and not just one rank below Eagle Scout - in 1924, the ranks of Star and Life were re-ordered.)

Indy, born in 1899, would have been 13 at the time, and the Eagle rank was rigorous and less seldom earned until an older age until well into the 1940s. Additionally, the ranks of Life and Eagle were not created until 1911, and the first Eagle Scout, Arthur Rose Eldred, was not awarded his medal until 1912. There was not a patch for Eagles distinct from the medal until 1924.

When Harrison Ford was younger, he was a Scout and had earned the rank of Life Scout. Ford even served on summer camp staff at Camp Napowan in central Wisconsin as a nature counselor where he developed an affection for animals (including snakes and rats) and even taught the "Reptile Study" merit badge.^[8] It is sometimes cited that Indy's rank was an homage to Ford's Scouting career.

However the mere appearance of the Life badge on young Indy's uniform is something of an anachronism. The cloth Life Scout badge was first issued in 1913, so unless Indy had some kind of home-made or pre-release badge, he shouldn't be wearing one on his uniform in the prologue scene.

Indy's troop is also depicted wearing yellow neckerchiefs. The use of the neckerchief was not standard in Boy Scout uniforms until 1923. Early Scout uniforms, such as from the time frame depicted in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade were not standardized, and were based on US Army uniforms. Many troops that could not obtain official Scout uniforms frequently used surplus Army uniforms.

Steven Spielberg was a Scout as a youth and had earned the rank of Eagle Scout. He appared at the Boy Scouts of America's National Jamboree in the summer of 1989 to introduce the then-new "Cinematography" merit badge (now known as "Moviemaking"). Spielberg helped develop the badge requirements and personally counseled some of the Scouts at the Jamboree while also promoting Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (which had been released in theaters just weeks earlier).^[9]

The official merit badge for "Exploration" (introduced in 2017) features the image of a fedora and bullwhip on the patch, a homage to explorer and adventurer Indiana Jones.^[10]

The book From Star Wars To Indiana Jones - The Best of the Lucasfilm Archives incorrectly identifies Jones' trip in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade as being with the "Eagle Scouts," not the Boy Scouts, and has image of Eagle Scout Award prop which was not seen in the film.^[11]