Boy Scout Trivia
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119 free Boy Scout trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
63 free Boy Scout trivia questions with answers. Scouting started with twenty-odd boys, a kudu horn and a week on an island in Poole Harbour in 1907. Within a decade it had crossed the Atlantic, been chartered by Congress and produced its first Eagle Scout. This quiz covers the whole movement: Robert Baden-Powell and the siege that made him famous, the London good turn that inspired the Boy Scouts of America, the Scout Oath and Law, ranks from Tenderfoot to Eagle, merit badges, Cub Scouts and the Pinewood Derby, the Order of the Arrow, Philmont, world jamborees, and the astronauts and presidents who earned Eagle as boys. It is written for troop meetings, Blue and Gold banquets, Scout Sunday, Eagle courts of honor and anyone who spent their summers at camp. Questions start easy enough for a Webelos den (what is the Scout motto, what do you get when you win the Pinewood Derby's weight check) and climb to details that will stretch a Silver Beaver recipient (which future Cub Scout rank was dropped in 1967 and revived in 2017; where the Unknown Scout's Silver Buffalo actually lives). Every answer has been checked against Wikipedia's Scouting articles and official Scouting sources, and the source sentence appears under each question, so a den leader can settle any dispute on the spot.
30 of 119 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who founded the Scout movement in 1907?
Robert Baden-Powell
Robert Baden-Powell, a British Army lieutenant-general, founded Scouting; he tested his ideas with an experimental camp for about 20 boys in August 1907.
Q 02Where in Poole Harbour did the first experimental Scout camp take place in August 1907?
Brownsea
Brownsea Island, in Poole Harbour, hosted Baden-Powell's experimental camp of about 20 boys from 1 to 8 August 1907, its isolation keeping the press away.
Q 03How was each day at the 1907 experimental camp begun?
A blast on a kudu horn
A blast on a kudu horn woke the camp each morning; Baden-Powell had taken the horn during the 1896 Matabele campaign in what is now Zimbabwe.
Q 04Which of these was NOT one of the four patrols at the 1907 experimental camp?
Otters
Otters was not a patrol; the 1907 camp's four patrols were Wolves, Ravens, Curlews and Bulls, each marked by a coloured shoulder knot.
Q 05Which Boer War siege made Baden-Powell a national hero in Britain?
Mafeking
Mafeking, besieged for 217 days in 1899-1900, made Baden-Powell famous; a cadet corps of boys aged 12 to 15 carried messages there, an idea he later reused.
Q 06Baden-Powell's founding handbook, published in 1908, was titled what?
Scouting for Boys
Scouting for Boys, first issued in early 1908, recast Baden-Powell's military scouting methods as games and outdoor skills for boys and became one of the century's best-sellers.
Q 07How was Baden-Powell's 1908 handbook first published?
In six fortnightly instalments
The parts sold so well that they were bound into a book on 1 May 1908; well over 100 million copies have been printed since.
Q 08Where did Baden-Powell spend his final years and die in 1941?
Nyeri, Kenya
Nyeri, Kenya: Baden-Powell retired there in 1938 and died on 8 January 1941; he is buried in the town's St Peter's churchyard.
Q 09What symbol on Baden-Powell's gravestone is the trail sign for "I have gone home"?
A circle with a dot in the centre
The Kenyan government declared the grave a national monument in 2001.
Q 10With which family member did Baden-Powell start the Girl Guides Association in 1910?
His sister Agnes
His sister Agnes Baden-Powell led the Girl Guides from 1910, after girls calling themselves 'Girl Scouts' turned up at the September 1909 Crystal Palace rally.
Q 11In BSA legend, an 'Unknown Scout' helped Chicago publisher William Boyce find his way in which city?
London
London: in 1909 a boy guided Chicago publisher William D. Boyce to his destination in the city and refused a tip, saying Scouts do a good turn daily.
Q 12Which detail of the Unknown Scout legend do weather records contradict?
That London was foggy that day
That London was foggy that day: the handbook version has Boyce lost in dense fog, but weather records for his 1909 London visit show no fog.
Q 13On what date was the Boy Scouts of America incorporated?
February 8, 1910
Q 21What is the Scout motto?
Be Prepared
Be Prepared is the Scout motto, chosen by Baden-Powell and sharing his initials; 'Do a Good Turn Daily' is the BSA slogan and 'Do Your Best' the Cub Scout motto.
Q 22How many fingers are raised in the Scout sign and salute?
Three
Baden-Powell specified the thumb resting on the nail of the little finger, with the three others pointing up.
Q 23Which hand do Scouts around the world use for their handshake?
The left
One popular origin story has Ashanti chiefs offering Baden-Powell their left hands, since a warrior had to lower his shield to do so.
February 8, 1910: Chicago publisher William D. Boyce incorporated the Boy Scouts of America on that date, which Scouts mark each year as the organisation's birthday.
Q 14Who became the BSA's first Chief Scout Executive in 1911?
James E. West
James E. West, a Washington lawyer, took the post in January 1911 and served as Chief Scout Executive until his retirement in 1943, 32 years.
Q 15Which naturalist and author, founder of the Woodcraft Indians, was the BSA's first Chief Scout?
Ernest Thompson Seton
Ernest Thompson Seton, who founded the Woodcraft Indians in 1902, was the BSA's Chief Scout from 1910 to 1915 and wrote much of its first handbook.
Q 16Which president signed the BSA's federal charter on June 15, 1916?
Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson signed the Boy Scouts of America's federal charter on June 15, 1916, giving the BSA exclusive rights to its name, badges and emblems.
Q 17How does the Scout Oath begin?
On my honor, I will do my best
On my honor, I will do my best: the Scout Oath continues 'to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law'.
Q 18How many points does the BSA Scout Law contain?
12
12: the BSA Scout Law has twelve points; Baden-Powell's 1908 original had nine, and the Americans added brave, clean and reverent.
Q 19Which is the FIRST point of the Scout Law?
Trustworthy
Trustworthy: the BSA Scout Law opens 'A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent'.
Q 20Per the original US handbook, the Scout Law drew on the code of which Japanese warriors?
The Samurai
The Samurai: the 1911 BSA Handbook for Boys said the Scout Law drew on Japan's Bushido code alongside the chivalry of medieval European knights.
Q 24What is the highest rank in Scouts BSA?
Eagle Scout
Eagle Scout is the top rank in Scouts BSA; the award was introduced in 1911, first earned in 1912, and requires a leadership service project.
Q 25Which rank comes immediately BEFORE Eagle in the Scouts BSA progression?
Life
Life is the rank just below Eagle; until 1924 the order was reversed, with Life ranking below Star, and both began as merit-badge milestones rather than ranks.
Q 26How many merit badges must a Scout earn, at minimum, to become an Eagle Scout?
21
21: an Eagle candidate needs at least 21 merit badges, most from the Eagle-required list; the 1972 Improved Scouting Program briefly raised the total to 24.
Q 27Who received the first Eagle Scout award, in 1912?
Arthur Rose Eldred
Baden-Powell himself sat on his board of review, having landed in the United States earlier that day.
Q 28Before it was renamed in August 1911, the BSA's highest award was going to be called what?
Wolf Scout
The medal drawn in the handbook showed an eagle in flight, but the design changed again before any were issued.
Q 29Which colour Eagle Palm represents ten extra merit badges?
Gold
Gold: Eagle Palms, introduced in 1927, run Bronze for five extra merit badges, Gold for ten and Silver for fifteen.
Q 30Which of these Moon-walkers earned Eagle Scout as a boy?
Neil Armstrong
Neil Armstrong earned Eagle Scout in Wapakoneta, Ohio, and carried a World Scout badge aboard Apollo 11 in 1969; Charles Duke and Jim Lovell were also Eagle Scouts.