Merit Badge Requirements

The following list of merit badge requirements is current as of January 1, 2023. These requirements should be used for all Merit Badges STARTED after that date. If a Scout is currently working on a Merit Badge under older requirements, he may complete the Merit Badge using those requirements. (To see a letter confirming this statement, Click here)

Click here for an Introduction to Merit Badges, which describes the process for earning and receiving Merit badges.

If you are interested in proposing a new merit badge, or revised requirements for an existing merit badge, please CLICK HERE.

A ZIP file of all of the GIFS of the current Merit Badges can be obtained by CLICKING HERE. The ZIP file also contains a text file listing the Merit Badges and the BSA assigned numbers and the file names of the gifs. The Text file can be viewed by CLICKING HERE.

Please let us know if you find any errors so we can correct them. Corrections should be sent to our:
Merit Badge and Advancement Webmaster.

A table of the URL's for the various Merit Badge pages and graphics is also available. It also shows the numbers assigned to each Merit Badge by BSA's record system, and lists those Merit Badges which have been renamed and/or discontinued recently

This site contains the requirements for Merit Badges, and does not attempt to provide other information regarding how to earn the badges, other resources for added information, or similar data.

Worksheets

We also have a series of worksheets, in both Word Processing (DOC or DOCX) and Portable Document (PDF) formats, which can be used as aids to completing the requirements for the merit badges.  While workbooks are not required, Scouts are more likely to remember facts if they take notes. We have made every attempt to insure that these workbooks are accurate but please remember that requirements do change.

There are links to the worksheets at the bottom of the page for each Merit Badge, which look like this:

Worksheets
for use in working
on these requirements:		 Format
Word Format _________

Blanks in this worksheets table appear when we do not have a worksheet for the badge that includes these requirements.

If the there are no links shown in either or both table cells, as in the above example (where there is no entry for a PDF Format worksheet), it's because we have not yet gotten updated copies of the worksheet in one or both formats, with current requirements from the author.

Merit Badge Pamphlets and Revisions

A table of Current Merit Badge Pamphlet Revision Dates is also available on this system. The table also includes the BSA Stock Numbers for all current Merit Badge Pamphlets and the dates of the most recent changes to the requirements for each badge.

To our knowledge, there is NOWHERE on the web where you can find complete copies of any of the merit badge pamphlets published by BSA.  The contents of those pamphlets are copyright by BSA,  they use the proceeds from the sale of the pamphlets to defray the cost of revising them periodically, and the sheer size of the files needed to have those available on line would probably be prohibitive. 

Required for Eagle

The following 18 badges are on the list of badges in requirement 3 for Eagle Scout.

A Scout must earn 14 of them for the rank of Eagle Scout (and 7 others, of course).  Therefore, certain of them are options for others. A Scout may choose any combination of these 18 merit badges to fulfill requirement number 3 for Star and Life Scout. (He must have a minimum of 4 of these badges for Star and a minimum of 7 of these badges for Life) Click here to see which badges in the list are options. On July 15, 2013, the new Sustainability merit badge became 16th badge on this list as an alternative to Environmental Science, On January 1, 2014, Cooking merit badge was added as a 13th required badge for Eagle, and 17th badge on the list. On November 1, 2021, Citizenship in Society was added as the 18th badge on the list and on July 1, 2022, Citizenship in Society became the 14th merit badge required for Eagle.

Camping, Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, Communication, Cooking, Cycling, Emergency Preparedness,
Environmental Science, Family Life, First Aid, Hiking, Lifesaving, Personal Fitness, Personal Management, Sustainability, Swimming, Citizenship in Society

The following is a list of all 139 of the current Merit Badges, arranged into 14 logical fields of activity (categories) basically as they appear in the BSA Pamphlet "Worksheet for Building a Merit Badge Counselor List" (No. 04439) (with new badges added in appropriate locations). 

  1. AGRIBUSINESS
    ANIMAL SCIENCE, FARM MECHANICS, PLANT SCIENCE
     
  2. ARTS AND CRAFTS
    ART, BASKETRY, BUGLING, LEATHERWORK, METALWORK, MUSIC, POTTERY, SCULPTURE, THEATER, WOOD CARVING
     
  3. BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY
    AMERICAN BUSINESS, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, PULP AND PAPER, SALESMANSHIP, TEXTILE
     
  4. CONSERVATION
    ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, FISH AND WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT, FORESTRY, SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION, SUSTAINABILITY
     
  5. HOBBIES
    BACKPACKING, CAMPING, CHESS, COIN COLLECTING, COLLECTIONS, COOKING, DOG CARE, GARDENING, HIKING, HOME REPAIRS, INDIAN LORE, MODEL DESIGN AND BUILDING, PETS, PIONEERING, RADIO, ROWING, SCOUTING HERITAGE, STAMP COLLECTING
     
  6. NATURAL SCIENCE
    ARCHAEOLOGY, ASTRONOMY, BIRD STUDY, GEOLOGY, INSECT STUDY, MAMMAL STUDY, NATURE, OCEANOGRAPHY, REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN STUDY, WEATHER
     
  7. COMMUNICATIONS
    MOVIEMAKING, JOURNALISM, PHOTOGRAPHY, SIGNS, SIGNALS, AND CODES
     
  8. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
    AMERICAN CULTURES, AMERICAN HERITAGE, CITIZENSHIP IN SOCIETY, CITIZENSHIP IN THE COMMUNITY, CITIZENSHIP IN THE NATION, CITIZENSHIP IN THE WORLD, COMMUNICATION, DISABILITIES AWARENESS, EXPLORATION, FAMILY LIFE, GENEALOGY, PERSONAL FITNESS, PERSONAL MANAGEMENT, PUBLIC SPEAKING, READING, SCHOLARSHIP, SEARCH AND RESCUE, TRAFFIC SAFETY, WILDERNESS SURVIVAL
     
  9. PHYSICAL SCIENCE
    CHEMISTRY, DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY, ELECTRICITY, ELECTRONICS, ENERGY, NUCLEAR SCIENCE, SPACE EXPLORATION
     
  10. PROFESSIONS
    ANIMATION, ARCHITECTURE, DENTISTRY, ENGINEERING, GAME DESIGN, HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONS, INVENTING, LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, LAW, MINING IN SOCIETY, PROGRAMMING, ROBOTICS, SURVEYING, VETERINARY MEDICINE
     
  11. PUBLIC SERVICE
    CRIME PREVENTION, EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, FINGERPRINTING, FIRE SAFETY, FIRST AID, LIFESAVING, PUBLIC HEALTH, SAFETY
     
  12. SPORTS
    ARCHERY, ATHLETICS, CANOEING, CLIMBING, CYCLING, FISHING, FLY FISHING, GOLF, GEOCACHING, HORSEMANSHIP, KAYAKING, MOTORBOATING, ORIENTEERING, RIFLE SHOOTING, SCUBA DIVING, SHOTGUN SHOOTING, SKATING, SMALL-BOAT SAILING, SNOW SPORTS, SPORTS, SWIMMING, WATER SPORTS, WHITEWATER
     
  13. TRADES
    AMERICAN LABOR, AUTOMOTIVE MAINTENANCE, COMPOSITE MATERIALS, DRAFTING, GRAPHIC ARTS, PAINTING, PLUMBING, WELDING, WOODWORK
     
  14. TRANSPORTATION
    AVIATION, RAILROADING, TRUCK TRANSPORTATION

Page updated on: March 05, 2024

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