Introduction
The Boys' Brigade (BB) is an international non-denominational Christian youth organization. The object of the Boys' Brigade is: "The advancement of Christ's kingdom among Boys and the promotion of habits of Obedience, Reverence, Discipline, Self-respect and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness."
History
The first Boys' Brigade company was set up by Sir (then still Mr.) William Alexander Smith on 4 October, 1883 at Free Church Mission Hall, North Woodside Road, Glasgow to develop 'Christian manliness' by the use of a semi-military discipline and order, gymnastics, summer camps and religious services and classes.
In the years following the establishment of the 1st Glasgow company, others were rapidly formed throughout Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom leading to a movement comprising thousands of boys: in the early 20th century there were about 2200 companies connected with different churches throughout the United Kingdom, the British empire and the United States, with 10,000 officers and 100,000 boys. Each company is normally affiliated to a Battalion encompassing several nearby companies, which in turn are organized at a district and then national level.
Being the earliest of all youth organizations, a simple rosette was worn as an identifying uniform, shortly being replaced by the simple use of a belt, haversack and pillbox cap (a popular military cap of the day) worn over the boys' everyday clothing. The pillbox cap was used into the 1960s, long after it had fallen out of use in the British Army, when it was replaced with a field cap.
The movement also pioneered camping for leisure, previously rarely used outside the military. Early admirers of the Brigade included Baden-Powell who as Vice President of the Boy's Brigade used it alongside initiatives in schools, particularly Eton College, to promote the idea of scouting and outdoor pursuits based on those of the military for boys.
At the time, he did not originally intend that any individual organisation would later arise from this aim in the form of the various Boy Scouts movements. Early examples of Scouting were seen in Boys' Brigade Scouting awards and even specialized Boys' Brigade Scout sections who wore a blue uniform with shorts and the distinctive Smokey Bear hat traditionally identified with Scouts, and still worn today by drill sergeants in the United States Army.
The Boys' Brigade motto is "Sure and Steadfast" and the logo is an anchor placed over a Greek Cross. Old images of the motto may be spelt "Sure and Stedfast". The anchor comes from a phrase in The Bible, from the Epistle to the Hebrews, Chapter 6, Verse 19: 'Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast'. The Greek cross, sometimes referred to as the Geneva cross in the style of that used by the Red Cross, was added when the Brigade merged with the Boys' Life Brigade in the 1920s. The latter was one of many similar movements formed by the Boys' Brigade's influence, sometimes along denominational or religious lines, including the Church Lads' Brigade and Jewish Lads' Brigade. The merger also prompted the abandonment of dummy drill rifles that had been used in the Boys' Brigade, due to the Life Brigade's objection to use of weapons or their representations. For some time afterwards, the section covering members aged 8–12 years was known as Life Boys, before being restyled as the Junior section (see below).
External Links
United Kingdom