In this series we started by featuring our very first flag (the oldest Scout flag in South Africa), then at two historic flags from nearly 100 years ago, then at our collection of Cub flag. In this final instalment we look at the two flags that are currently in use by the Scout Troop.
At meetings, the Troop flies a green flag with the red and gold fleur de lis with a springbok head. The Troop name doesn’t appear on the flag although other Troops have similar flags with their name. We have actually had two of these flags, almost identical. The first one was blown to shreds at a windy Kon-Tiki (is there any other kind?) and its logo is now framed in the Scouters Den. The current flag is the replacement, but essentially the same flag has been flown at 1st Claremont for about the past 40 years.
The red and gold logo with the springbok was introduced by the Boy Scouts of South Africa (BSSA) in the 1980s, although the green background for Scouts dates back to Baden-Powell’s time. BSSA later became the South African Scout Association and then Scouts South Africa in 2008, at which point the red fleur de lis with the springbok head was replaced. Some day we will probably replace the 1980s flag with a new purple and green 1st Claremont flag with the Scouts South Africa logo. Apart from the flag flown at meetings, we also use a much older flag on a staff for special occasions such as Founder’s Day and similar flag parades. Most importantly, when each new 1st Claremont Scout is invested, they recite the Scout Promise with their left hand on this flag.
The flag has the gold fleur de lis with the “Be Prepared” scroll described by Baden-Powell in “Scouting for Boys”. This flag also has our Star Troop awards sewn onto it. The 2021 star is currently lost but we hope to track it down (blame lockdown!) and the 2023 star will be sewn on soon.
This flag has a special history, mentioned in our 75th anniversary Smoke Signals in 1983: it was brought from England in 1951 by Richard Knight who was then a 16 year old Scout. He went on to be a Scoutmaster at 1st Claremont, became one of the founders of the Cederberg Adventure, and held many national roles. His son David Knight was also a Scout at 1st Claremont and is now our DC, and two of his grandsons were Scouts at 1st Claremont, one of them a Springbok Scout.
This 1951 flag is a piece of history worth preserving as long as we can. Every Scout at 1st Claremont has placed their left hand on this flag for the past 73 years – many hundreds of Scouts in total. Even when I was invested as a 1st Claremont Scout 40 years ago in March 1984, this flag had already been in use for more than 30 years. I hope 1st Claremont will continue to use this flag to invest new Scouts long into the future.
SGL Ian Webb
