Whoa! Pink!
Posted in Patch Collecting by John E. Pannell on June 27th, 2007 at 5:20 am 
I remember as a child looking at old photographs and thinking about how bland and uncolorful everything looked. Not only were the photographs in black and white, but it even appeared that everything those photos would be drab, even if they were in color. Cars were black. Men dressed in grey and blue and black. Buildings were grey stone. Everything was so … blah. So, I was stunned when I ran across a baby picture of my uncle from 1933 that was in color! We even had some color home movies that predated Dorothy’s rendezvous with the Wizard. (My grandfather was a Bell Labs employee, so he had access to technology that was not in common usage then.)
Patches were much the same way. Many older patches are works of art, but the majority tend to be rather bland having just a few colors. Sure, there is the ocassional colorful masterpiece, but that is the exception rather than the rule.
This has all changed in recent years. Cable networks are full of shows about how to bring color into your life and home. Likewise, patches have become more daring in their use of colors. We see more colors use in a given patch. More unusual shades are used. Computer style embroidery makes possible some neat “blending” type effects. We have seen an explosion in “special” thread types being used: “mylars”, glow in the dark, photosensitive, multi-colored thread.
Then we have color being used for an apparent shock effect. Patches are made so that you can’t help but notice them. Sometimes you wonder if a color was used, just to annoy some adults and other ’sensitive’ types. Pink seems to be used for this.
Back in 1983 three lodges from western North Carolina made their first appearance at the SE-7 Conclave, previously being “Dixie lodges”. There were Itibapishe Iti Hollo 188, Catawba 459, and Eswau Huppeday 560. The brothers of lodge 560 wanted to bring their spirited traditions from Dixie to the new section and really make an impression upon their brethren from eastern North Carolina.
So, they did something not too common then, adopted a theme: Think Pink. They had pink shoulder loops, sashes where the red bled, making the white pink, and a pink flap. This was a hit with the youth, but some of more staid adults didn’t appreciate their humor or rebellious spirit.
Years later Itibapishe Iti Hollo lodge was to take up the mantle here in North Carolina of a somewhat ”in your face” use of color on Grateful Dead themed patches. Personally, I think a lot more coould have been done with the design, but there it is. By some standards this is quite subdued.
Oke Otkia chapter of Wahissa lodge decided to really turn up the heat on a recent oval patch, that I mentioned in a recent entry.
My own lodge had its own unintentional tribute to Eswau Huppeday lodge, when we went with a pink theme for our 2006 conclave flap (S22?).
However, one lodge takes the cake for their bold use of the color pink. They can’t escape it as it’s in their name, so to speak. This is a lodge known for bringing its own pink flamingos to NOAC. They wear fluorescent pink t-shirts. In past years they even had very loud solid pink patches. Of course, they are the brothers of lodge 167: WOAPINK!
Some have objected to prominent use of pink on Scout patches. They find it inappropriate or even offensive. Some think the use of this color pushes a social or sexual agenda. To them I say, “Relax!” Remember the Order of the Arrow is the Brotherhood of Cheerful Service. Relax and have a little fun. It won’t hurt. “Real men wear pink!”
How many other proudly pink patches can you think of?
There are some colour transparencies (slides) that exist from about 100 years ago or more. The truly amazing thing about them is that the colors are as vibrant as the day they are made. The San Diego Historical Society has some, and when I was working there I saw a couple of them. If I had not known they were 100 years old I would have sworn it was a modern photograph of people wearing vintage clothing.