Figure 1.--This American boy appears to be a Boy Scout, although therecare no badges or insignia visible. He was photographed in 1913. Note that he wears a jacket-like shirt without a kerchief.

American Scout shirts have varied substantially over time. We ote a wuide variety of styles. Early Scouts wore shirts that looked more like jackets, although HBU is unsure just how standardized early Scout uniforms were. The early jackets buttoned at the collar. I don't think there was a regulation shirt undernearh. The Scout uniform had become definitely standardized by the 1920s and looked much more like a shirt. While boys did not always wear their Scout shirts with kerchiefs, the kerchief was almost always worn in the 1920s. Early Scout unifprms were always long sleeved. I'm not sure just when the short-sleeved Scout shirt firsrt appeared, probably the 1940s. The BSA eventually came out with short and long sleeve shirts. We note shirts without collars. These were designed to better accomodate the neckerchief. An olive gereen shirt was worn for many years. A new tan shirt was adopted in 1981. Unlike the green shirt which was the same color as the pants, it contrasted with the brown pants.

Jacket Shirt (1910s)

Early Scouts wore shirts that looked more like jackets, although HBU is unsure just how standardized early Scout uniforms were. These shirt-jackets look very similar to U.S. Army uniforms at the time. The early jackets buttoned at the collar. They look rather heavy for summer wear as do the breeches/knickers. I don't think there was a regulation shirt undernearh. These jacket/shirts were not worn with neckerchiefs. The neckerchiefs come later as an important part of the uniform. These jackets were commonly worn during the 1910s. We do not notice many badges on these jackets in the photographs we have found.

Early Shirts

The Scout uniform had become definitely standardized by the 1920s and looked much more like a shirt. While boys did not always wear their Scout shirts with kerchiefs, the kerchief was almost always worn in the 1920s.

Green Shirts

Early Scout unifprms were always long sleeved. I'm not sure just when the short-sleeved Scout shirt firsrt appeared, probably the 1940s when the BSA made a major uniform change. . The BSA eventually came out with short and long sleeve shirts. This matched the short and long pants option provide seasonal uniform choices.

T-Shirts

The BSA after World War II came out with official T-shirts. They were worn during the summer for a range of activuities. At jamboress and camps, special T-shirts were issued.

Collarless Shirts

We note Boy Scout shirts without collars. We believe Cub shirts were also dine in the same colarless design. These were designed to better accomodate the neckerchief. They were short sleeve shorts made for summer wear. Long sleeve shirts were done with colars. Thus they were often worn with short pants as part of the Scout summer uniform. Many boys preferred long pants even for summer wear so this shirt was also worn ith long pants, especilly during the 1950s and 60s. Short pants were not very popular with ASmerican boys dyring this period and this was reflected in the unifirm options Scouts chose. So we also see the collarless summer shirt worn with long pants. They were done in olive for many years, although it was more of a green shade than the military olive green. We are not sure yet precisely when they first appeared. We first note them in the 1950s. It is some what difficult to identify these shirts in the photographic record as the collar part is commonly covered up with the Scout neckechiefs with the boys were properly outfitted. These collarless shirts were part of the uniform commonly wirn at summer events like camps anf Jamborees.

Tan Shirts (1981- )

A new tan shirt was adopted in 1981. It was part of an effort to make the Scout uniform more stylish. Unlike the green shirt which was the same color as the pants, it contrasted with the brown pants. This was the fitsr Scout uniform with contrating colors. The new tan shirts were made with both short and long sleeves.