Recently, Scouting America updated clothing guidelines to assist youth and adult leaders in delivering their programs. As a program of Scouting America, the Order of the Arrow endeavors to support all members in following these guidelines for safe and fun program delivery.
The Scouting America Clothing Guideline aims to foster unity, respect, and safety during Scouting activities. While the official Scouting America field uniform is encouraged, participants can wear an activity uniform as needed during their Scouting activities, including Order of the Arrow activities. First and foremost, all clothing choices should meet safety requirements and reflect the values of the Scout Oath, the Scout Law, and the Scouter Code of Conduct.
Clothing should follow Scouting’s safety standards and avoid offensive or inappropriate content. For example, swimwear for aquatic activities must be designed for safety, such as fitted swimsuits that won’t shift during activity. Additionally, clothing must not contain hate speech, endorsements of illegal conduct, or offensive images. Headgear for religious or medical reasons is permitted, but clothing that impedes vision should be avoided for safety reasons.
Units should create clothing guidelines for their unit. This should be done in collaboration with volunteers, parents, and their chartered organization. When developing guidelines, units should ask whether their proposed unit clothing guidelines are based on participant safety, avoid imposing personal values, and accommodate personal needs, religious practices, and cultural dress. For example, a unit might require long sleeves and pants for service projects involving outdoor labor.
Membership-based organizations like the Order of the Arrow can set clothing guidelines for their events, and multi-unit events, such as camporees, may impose additional requirements like requiring specific footwear for climbing activities. When evaluating clothing policies, lodges should consider the types of activities being conducted at various events. For example, clothing guidelines for an induction event may be different than those for a fellowship event. Consider safety needs doing work projects as well as fun activities your lodge may hold at a fellowship event when considering clothing guidelines.
A contingent to a multi-lodge event (i.e., National Order of the Arrow Conference, Section Conclave) may set standard clothing guidelines for their contingent to that event. The contingent leadership should also consult any guidance from the event leadership relative to clothing and reflect those clothing guidelines in their own contingent guidelines.
If clothing concerns arise, unit leadership is responsible for addressing them. If functioning as part of a contingent to a section or national event, contingent leadership becomes responsible for addressing clothing concerns. Immediate safety concerns should be addressed first, and youth participants should not be questioned directly by adults outside their unit (or contingent) unless there’s an urgent safety issue.