Scout Movement

Special stamp Europa

Scouts, in their brown, turquoise-blue, red or green shirts and brightly colored neckerchiefs, are a familiar sight on Saturday afternoons in the country, in town or at railway stations. 2007 sees the Scout Movement turns one hundred, and this year's Europa postage stamp commemorates its jubilee.
With a good 45,000 active members and approximately 500,000 former members, the Scout Movement is the biggest and best-known youth organization with educational objectives in Switzerland. All over the world, some 40 million members are organized in Scouting federations and, in this the Movement's hundredth year, Scouts will be giving a high public profile to the meaning behind the uniform and explaining why the original Scouting idea, dating from 1907, is still just as valid today.

Lord Robert Baden-Powell

In 1907, Lord Robert Baden-Powell organized the first Scout camp with 26 boys on the coast of Southern England, the aim being to provide the lads with a meaningful leisure pursuit that would further their personal development. This year, 40,000 girls and boys aged 15 plus from all over the world will be meeting in Southern England to celebrate the Movement's centenary at a huge Jamboree or world camp. Though there have been many changes in the intervening years, the idea itself has remained the same: the Scout Movement still aims to reinforce the personal development of each and every member. Children and young people should demonstrate social commitment, playing an active part in the community and making a constructive contribution. However, in the minds of most members, Scouting is associated primarily with strong friendships, fun and adventure.

International presence

Hundred years down the road, the Scout Movement exists in 216 countries. Switzerland was one of the first countries where Scouting took hold, and the Swiss Guide and Scout Movement is organized in 23 associations and roughly 700 troops. Together with the Swiss national umbrella association, the associations are mainly responsible for establishing framework conditions, for instance as regards training group leaders, equipment, documentation, youth policy work and for regional and national events. The basic work of the Scout Movement takes place in local groups, which are structured in four sections, each with a program adapted to the various age groups.

Postage stamps in detail

Issue: Switzerland, 27 April 2007
Designer: Marc Weller, Berne
Printing: offset by Austrian State Printing Office, Vienna
Stamp sizes: 50 x 30 mm, sheet 220 x 190 mm
Perforation: 13.25 x 13.75

More information

Postage Stamps 2007
Stamps Switzerland
Scouting on stamps
Scouting stamp catalogue
Art Brut
Stein am Rhein
Swiss National Bank