Following Camp Fire National’s 2022 official Emblem Drop, Camp Fire Central Puget Sound is proud to announce that we will officially begin phasing out historical emblem designs and moving forward with the updated emblem options – with youth-led and non-appropriative designs. Not all emblems that you know and love are being updated, most of the Council and Memento emblems will remain the same, including our Sports Awards, Generations Emblem, and more.
Camp Fire will still be recognizing the accomplishments and achievements encapsulated by all past emblems, even as their designs are discontinued as we move forward. A limited inventory of the historical emblems will still be available for clubs to order and use, if desired, and can be indicated on your club’s order form if you would like to request them! Orders with historical emblems will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis until our on-hand stores are depleted, after which all orders will be fulfilled with the refreshed designs.
All new emblems will also be available as stickers! For members who want to showcase their accomplishments beyond their vest, stickers can be another fun and exciting way to showcase your Camp Fire Pride!
Emblem Update Highlights
The new emblem designs are an exciting step for Camp Fire as we seek to learn and grow from our past, looking towards a future where we have taken our mistakes and turned them into valuable experiences that strengthen us moving forward. The new emblems reflect the core values of Camp Fire and our curriculum – the designs coming directly from Camp Fire youths themselves! We look forward to seeing new and current members continue to showcase their accomplishments and adventures on their vests and sashes with these fun and colorful additions.
Starflight Emblem: New Experiences
Adventure Emblem: Trail to the Future
Torch Bearer Emblem: Special Interest
Why did we update the emblems?
Camp Fire’s redesign of our emblems is a part of our organizations commitment to addressing and ending cultural appropriation in our history and traditions moving forward. From Camp Fire National’s announcement:
“In 2020, Camp Fire began working with Thrive Paradigm to identify culturally appropriative elements of its programming and recommend changes aligned with Camp Fire’s values of equity and inclusivity. In April through July of last year, Thrive Paradigm helped Camp Fire establish a task force, conduct an audit and develop recommendations for changes and next steps.”
This effort to end and address any elements of cultural appropriation has been continuing ever since: connecting with local tribes, updating our language and naming of people, places, and awards, stopping or adapting the use of gowns, and choosing original symbols respectfully and personally. As we continue to take steps forward and make these updates, we work to foster an organization providing respectful and inclusive experiences for youths of all ages and backgrounds.
Were all of the emblems updated?
For the most part, yes! To see a full list of all emblems currently available to earn in our Council, check out this gallery.*
Every council has a fairly customized variety of Council and Memento emblems that are used by and for our groups, special events, and hosted activities, and those emblems are largely the same. The core emblems used by and with Little Stars, Starflight, Adventure, Discovery, Horizon, and Torchbearer groups and curriculum have all been refreshed, and you can see the new and old designs in the linked gallery. Check and see what your favorite emblems look like now!
* The gallery, temporarily supported by Airtable, can be filtered, sorted, and searched using the options along the upper toolbar.
What’s Next?
Looking forward, we are hoping to have emblems available for online ordering by the end of Summer 2023. In the meantime, please use this order form (also available in the member resource portal) and contact Josie Kies via email at josiek@campfireseattle.org for any questions and to submit your order. Leaders will be contacted once the emblems are available to be ordered online.