Current Merit Badge Pamphlet
and Requirement Revision Dates

The first table below shows the latest Copyright / Revision dates for each of the Merit Badge Pamphlets currently in effect, and the date of the last change to the Requirements for each badge. In addition, it contains the current BSA Publication Numbers and current SKU numbers for each pamphlet. The table also includes the dates from the "Merit Badge Library" listing on the inside back cover of the current Scouts BSA Requirements book. We have also included some other advancement related publications at the top of the table.  A larger list may be found by Clicking here.

The second set of tables are lists of the merit badges, arranged in chronologic order by date of last revision to the pamphlet and date of last revision of the requirements (from most recent to oldest). 

When the content has been updated in a Merit Badge Pamphlet, BSA no longer changes the publication number from 33123 to 33123A, 33123B, etc. to indicate a new edition. BSA now keeps the publication number constant, but assigns a new inventory (SKU - Stock Keeping Unit) number to the booklet. The publication number appears in the copyright statement near the front of the book, and below the UPC code on the back cover. The SKU appears on the back cover, above the UPC Code, and is used as the item number for ordering from Scoutshop.org. In some cases, the publication number and SKU are the same, because no revisions have been madesince the pamphlet was ffirst issued.

All of the Merit Badge pamphlets were reissued, with new publication numbers, on August 1, 2008. In many of them, the only changes at that time were the addition of color to the pamphlet contents and covers, while others have had major or minor changes to the text and/or requirements. As indicated in the "Merit Badge Library" listing in the current Scouts BSA Requirements booklet, there is only one merit badge with a pamphlet with a copyright date earlier than 2008 - Surveying. For that 2 badge, the old and new pamphlets are interchangeable, with the only difference being the color illustrations. So, in general, with that exception, Scouts should no longer use the old black and white pamphlets.

As new pamphlets are issued, when they contain new requirements, Scouts have the option of starting with the new requirements as soon as the pamphlets are issued, or they may start work using the old requirements until the next edition of Scouts BSA Requirements is issued. If a Scout starts work after a new edition of Scouts BSA Requirements is issued, he must use the new requirements. In any case, once a boy starts with a set of requirements he can continue using them until he completes the badge or turns 18. If he started using the old requirements, he also has the option of switching to the new requirements (which may in fact mean starting over in some cases). So long as he meets all of the requirements (either old or new) he can earn the badge. However, he can't use, for example, old requirements 1, 3, and 5 and new requirements 2, 4, and 6-8.

If you find a pamphlet with a later publication or copyright date or a stock (SKU) number higher than what we have listed below, please write us, with the Merit Badge name, BSA publication and stock (SKU) numbers (e.g.. 35859 - 610461) and the Copyright date. (If it just says Copyright 2005, 2015 Printing, that just means it's a new printing with no changes to the text. That category included the majority of the books reissued in the new color format in August 2008.) If the booklet also has revised requirements, a copy of those requirements would also be appreciated so we can update this site.

The Requirements Revision Dates in the tables below reflect the year the revisions first appear in Scouts BSA Requirements, which is frequently the year after revised requirements appear in a new edition of the merit badge pamphlet. .

To our knowledge, there is NOWHERE on the web where you can legally find FREE complete copies of  merit badge pamphlets published by BSA (except the four 2010 Historic badges which were available ONLY as free PDFs). The contents of all of the pamphlets are copyright by BSA, and they use the proceeds from the sale of the pamphlets to defray the cost of revising them periodically. If you do find a copy on line in PDF form, it was scanned and posted illegally.  However, many of the merit badge pamphlets and a number of other BSA handbooks and guides are available for purchase as Kindle books, through Amazon.com. And, at one point, BSA began selling Digital Interactive merit badge pamphlets through Scoutshop.org. However, those digital interactive versions are no longer available.

Always check the current edition of Scouts BSA Requirements, or this site, when starting a merit badge, to be sure you have the most up to date requirements, as they may have changed since the pamphlet was printed.

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Architecture and Landscape Architecture, which are separate Merit Badges, with separate requirements, are now covered in a single pamphlet  - Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Prior to 2008, there were separate pamphlets for each badge.  Music and Bugling, while separate Merit Badges, with separate requirements, are also covered in one pamphlet - Music and Bugling. 

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Key to the colors used in the tables below:
Green text = Recent Change to pamphlet, requirements, or new merit badge name

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The information on current requirements in the tables below reflects requirements issued through January 1, 2020.

The information on current publication dates is based on the Merit Badge Library listing in the 2020 Scouts BSA Requirements booklet.

The SKU numbers are based on the listing on Scoutshop.org as of March 27, 2020, or previous information when pamphlets were not listed on Scoutshop.org at that time (probably because they were out of stock or new editions were being prepared.)

The availability of Kindle editions shown below is based on the listing on Amazon.com on April 23, 2020, and updated as noted in the "BRIAN ON SCOUTING" blog article as reviewed on May 13, 2020.

Spanish versions of all of the 17 Eagle Required merit badges were published a number of years ago, but only a few are still listed on Scoutshop.org. Whether the others (whose SKU numbers are shown in RED Italics) are still available is not known to the USSSP at this time.

The pamphlet Copyright dates listed have NOT been verified and are not current, due to the limitations on travel caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Please note that the dates and SKU numbers shown on the web pages with the current requirements are NOT updated as frequently as the list below. So the listing on this page should be used when the SKU numbers differ.

The following listings show the current Requirements Revision Dates and the latest Merit Badge Pamphlet Issue Dates (as listed in the Requirements Book), sorted by Date.

Merit Badge booklets (in print, Kindle, or Interactive Digital form) are now $4.99 each. However, if ordering from the National Supply Service, keep in mind that they are obligated to charge sales tax unless you submit a sales tax exemption form with your order, and for the print versions there is a shipping / handling / postage charge of $7.50 for orders up to $50.00 (1-10 pamphlets), $9.95 for orders between $50.01 and $100.00 (11-20 pamphlets), $13.50 for orders between $100.01 and $150.00 (21-30 pamphlets), $18.00 for orders between $150.01 and $200.00 (31-40 pamphlets), and $22.50 for those over $200.00 (41 or more pamphlets), so ordering small quantities in that manner can be VERY expensive on a unit cost basis unless you order other items at the same time. These fees are based on standard ground shipping in the USA. 2-day shipping adds an additional $13.00 to the ground shipping fees, overnight shipping adds another $5.00. International shipping charges range from $25.00 to $62.50.

The toll-free phone number for ordering through the BSA National Supply Division is 1-800-323-0732, or you can order on-line at http://Scoutshop.org.

Here is a table of costs and unit costs for ground shipping of small orders of print Merit Badge Pamphlets only: These figures, and the ones in the preceding paragraph are based on the information on the BSA's National Supply web site (Scoutshop.org) as of January 20, 2016 and do not include sales tax, or any other items purchased at the same time.

• 1 booklet would cost $12.49 (4.99 + 7.50 S&H)
• 2 would be $17.48 (8.74 each)
• 3 would be $22.47 (7.49 each)
• 4 would be $27.46 (6.57 each)
• 5 would be $32.45 (6.49 each)
• 6 would be $37..44 (6.24 each)
• 7 would be $42.43 (6.06 each)
• 8 would be $47.42 (5.93 each)
• 9 would be $52.41 (5.82 each)
• 10 would be $57.40 (49.90 + 7.50 S&H) (5.74 each)
• 11 would be $64.84 (54.89 + 9.95 S&H) (5.89 each)
• for orders of 12 or more booklets, the unit cost including shipping varies between 5.82 and 5.16

A single purchase of all 134 merit badge pamphlets, covering all 136 merit badges, would cost $668.66 + $22.50 S&H for a total of $691.16. (plus sales tax as applicable)