OAImages Blog

Great Western Council - Jubilee 1983

There has been some discussion on patch-l recently about what makes a patch an OA issue.     It was sparked when Jeff Ansley shared the patch shown to the left with the group.

Jeff questioned whether or not this item should be listed as an event patch for Malibu 566 because of the inclusion of what appears to be the “MGM Indian” in its design.     The general concensus was that this was not an OA issue.   It was noted the design included symbols of the various programs found within this council, of which the Order of the Arrow was one.

I also touched upon this issue, in my recent post about two unlisted items that might be chapter issues from Itibapishe Iti Hollo 188.

This leads to a broader discussion of what is an OA issue and how is it decided whether or not to include an item on this site or in Blue Book.   It’s not always as simple as you might think.

In most cases it really is quite simple.   The lodge or a chapter is clearly identified, usually by name and/or its number.     Some patches have neither of these, but include a traditional representation of the lodge’s totem.     They are clearly should be listed.       The main question then becomes how to list it?     Was it officially issued by the lodge or is it a private issue, fake, forgery, sample, etc…?   What designation does it get in the naming system?

There is the related matter of who can make a patch “official”.   In other words who in a lodge or council has the authority to authorize an item for a lodge or chapter.     The   answer to that differs among the lodges.     I may try to address this in a future post.

Some items have no explicit text or design elements to indicate what lodge issued them, or even anything to denote that they are Order of the Arrow items.     In many cases, especially with modern issues, it can easily be verified whether or not these were lodge issues.     Sometimes that becomes a charged issue in cases where a Scout Executive or council committee may have order the production of an item without the approval of the lodge’s elected leadership.

Event and chapter issues were only recently cataloged in Blue Book.     Before that little effort was spent documenting these items in any comprehensive or systematic way.     It is not unusual to find an event or chapter item from years past that has not yet been cataloged.

So in the absence of any clear identifier on the patch how do I determine what should be considered an OA item?     What follows is my opinion.     Your mileage may vary and comments are welcomed.

• There is documented evidence of what lodge or chapter issued the item in question. This is the easiest criterion.   If there is documentary evidence — meeting minutes, a newsletter, lodge order form, an invoice from a patch company, etc.   — showing a lodge or chapter ordered or issued the item, then it should be listed.
• There is text on the patch that reasonably point to it being an Order of the Arrow item. It abbreviations or words such as O.A., WWW (not in connection with the internet usage), any of the 3 Ws written out, Order of the Arrow, NOAC, etc… are used it should probably be listed as a lodge or chapter item.
• Verifiable testimony from someone active in the lodge or chapter at the time the purported item was issued. This is a weaker criterion, in my opinion, and not one to be always believed.   The human mind is not very reliable; memories fade with age.     Lodge members may not be familiar with everything their lodge produced in the past, especially in the case of chapter items, large lodges, or items that were issued to a very small group of members.
  I am also a cynic:   I know people distort the truth for their personal gain.   I have seen patches sold and trade on the basis of their being OA issues.   When the truth of the matter was something different, and the person who traded or sold the item knew this.     On a simpler level, just walk around the patch trading areas at a large Scout event and listen to the tall tales patch traders tell about their wares.   As such, I am reluctant to believe someone’s word — even that of a Scout or Scouter — about a potential OA item without some sort of independent collaboration or verification.
• There are design elements used that reasonably point to it being an Order of the Arrow item. This is the weakest and least objective criterion in my opinion.     For example, the patch at the top of this post uses what is apparently the “MGM Indian” in its design, a design element frequently used on OA patches, yet I would not consider it an OA item for it seems clear to me that the OA logo was used only as representation of one of the council’s programs.     In most cases this would not be enough to convince me something is an OA item.

What do you all think?     Is there something I left out?   How would you handle these pieces?

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