Material: Cloth
Size: 45mm w x 107mm h
Description: This vintage fabric uniform accessory is a slip-on shoulder epaulette configured for a Rover Scout (RS), the senior division traditionally catering to young adults within the movement. Woven from durable green cotton textile, the lower half prominently features a machine-embroidered gold fleur-de-lis flanked by the stylized capital initials "R" and "S". Below the central emblem, a curving scroll contains the words "BOY SCOUTS" stitched in matching bright yellow thread, while the tapers at the top converge onto a vertically reinforced buttonhole loop meant to anchor onto a uniform shirt strap.
Circa: 1930-1960s
Notes:
The letters "RS" explicitly stand for Rover Scouts, a program famously devised by Scouting founder Robert Baden-Powell in 1918 to provide continued citizenship training for older teenagers. Collectors tracking mid-century Commonwealth and international uniform variations look for this distinctive forty-five-by-107-millimeter "Swiss-rolled" edge finish, which was heavily utilized across British, Canadian, and Australian scout brigades prior to late-century modernization overhauls. These durable slip-on loops are often collected in identical pairs, and finding examples with entirely intact, unfrayed buttonhole stitching is highly desirable since field use during rugged outdoor excursions typically wore down the anchor points.