OA Operations Update: OBV Flaps Prohibited
Posted in Tripp Clark of Muscogee lodge made me aware Tuesday of a new Operations Update from the Order of the Arrow National Committee. It includes revised text that will be included in the next OA Handbook and is effective immediately.
The full text of this update can be found at: http://www.main.oa-bsa.org/annc/opup/opup-07-8.pdf
The section on page 58 of the current edition of the Order of the Arrow handbook will be replaced by this following text:
Lodge pocket flap. Cloth lodge emblems (“flapsâ€) are made available by most lodges. National policy requires that these pocket flap patches be made of, and embroidered on, cloth, and must be of a size and shape so as to cover the right breast pocket flap and not extend beyond the outer edge of the uniform pocket flap. They usually show the lodge name and totem. All OA patches must include “BSA†or the Boy Scout emblem in their patch designs. Chapter or clan flaps are not permitted. There will be no honor distinction denoted by the flap or flap border.
Beading of flaps is against uniform and insignia policy. The national Order of the Arrow committee recommends that no restrictions be placed on the purchase of lodge flap patches. Members may only wear the lodge pocket flap of the lodge where their dues are paid.
If the lodge has been certified as a National Quality Lodge, members of the lodge may wear a Quality Lodge pin on the pocket flap. Only the most recent pin awarded may be worn, and it must be mounted against the left vertical border of the flap.
The most important text of this update is the last sentence of the first paragraph. As this is written, separate Ordeal, Brotherhood and Vigil (OBV) flaps are no longer allowed. This is much stronger than the current statement on this issue, but still open to possible distortion and misinterpretation. I don’t know why the National Committee still insists on using unclear language even in this more declarative version of the long standing position on this.
“Honor” is a term that has not been officially used in the OA, outside of the Vigil Honor, for decades. Online discussions raised the issue that this undefined term could also be used to exclude flaps for other “honors” like LEC membership, Founder’s Award recipients, elangomats.
It has also been suggested, in jest, how this policy would apply to a hypothetical lodge that charged no dues. Of course, this ignores the practical matters surrounding how such a lodge would survive. As the policy is currently written, members of that lodge would not be able to wear a lodge flap.
Oddly shaped flaps that extend beyond the shape of the pocket are also prohibited in this policy. I don’t have an handbook in front of me as I type this, but I believe this is not a new policy. I believe it’s an existing policy that has been widely ignored.
The National Committee has also now declared how the Quality Lodge pins should be worn. They have chosen a method rather similar to the various Quality Unit/District/Council strips already in use: wear only the most recent pin awarded.
It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out.
The lodges that have long standing OBV traditions will look at this new policy, say “that’s nice” and proceed to continue issuing OBV sets. The only potential change might stem from those lodges that might have previously refuses to sell V flaps to those who were only Os or Bs, or not even members.
This is a money maker for councils, and therefore is not going to really impact the current status quo.
In the online discussions of this issue, folks keep pointing out that lodges will ignore this and National will do nothing about it. This may be true. However, folks should realize (and perhaps are not aware) that effective just this year National now does have a tool which they COULD (may or may not) use to enforce this policy. National is now licensing manufacturers of patches and as part of this licensing, National is reviewing and approving or rejecting all designs of all BSA patches prior to manufacture. I have no idea whether they WILL enforce this, but presently they could whereas even last year this would not have been possible. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out!
Is Nat’l really going to have the time to review all of these manufacturer’s designs??? If so, whom ever is doing the design review better be well versed in all of the lodges OBV flap designs…
Generally speaking, Occoneechee 104 rarely ever re-orders Ordeal, BRO, or VIG flaps at one time…so who’s to say the flap order is not one for a “special edition” flap???
Whatever happened to, “I will observe and preserve the traditions of the Order of the Arrow…”?
I really and truly hope that National and the OA National Committee have better things to do on a day to day basis than play patch police over lodges. With declining enrollment numbers and fewer dollars coming in through United Way, I’d hope that the executives would be out canvassing and putting the rubber to the road to solicit funding to keep our programs active and viable. Instead they’re writing operations updates to cover the production of “honor flaps”, how to wear quality pins and other nonsense, nitpick items. While I’m sure that some lodges are, relatively speaking, abusive when it comes to the issuing of varities of flaps, it’s disengenous to start putting out esoteric rulings.
This kind of decision making by National is tantamount to having a leaky sink and determining that indoor plumbing is the cause, thereby removing all of it from your house.
[...] Skyuka lodge has recently issued new OBV set of flaps, using their traditional double headed thunderbird design. What happened with the prohibition regarding such flaps? Has the prohibition been repealed or modified, or is Skyuka lodge ignoring it? [...]
[...] their previous set of Ordeal, Brotherhood and Vigil flaps and puts the lodge in compliance with a national policy that forbids such “OBV” flaps.  Thanks to Alan McDonald for this [...]