Background: Did you know that there are Girl Scouts and Girl Guides in 150 different countries around the world? All those girls in all those countries are part of the same sisterhood, and so are you! We’re going to show you a fun activity to connect with your global sisterhood!
Girl Scouts is part of a global network called the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts or WAGGGS. One of the ways that we connect with Girl Scouts and Girl Guides around the world is through shared symbols. Do you know what a symbol is? Symbols are something that stand for something else. For example, on the U.S. flag, the stars represent the current 50 states and the red and white stripes represent the original 13 colonies.
WAGGGS has a flag too. It has a golden trefoil on a blue background. The trefoil is the symbol for all Girl Scouts and Girl Guides. The yellow on white represents the sun shining on children all over the world. The white in the corner symbolizes peace, and the three gold squares symbolize the three parts of our Promise: to serve God and country, to help people at all times, and to live by the Girl Scout Law.
Activity: Let’s get started! For this activity, you’ll need a piece of fabric about the size of a pillowcase and permanent or fabric markers. If you don’t have fabric, you can also use a big piece of paper and crayons or markers.
First, think of a symbol that represents you, your family, or your community. You might also choose the trefoil, or you could pick your favorite animal, food, something important to your family, or a symbol that represents your state.
Draw this symbol somewhere big on your flag. Can you add an element of the WAGGGS flag to yours? You could add a white corner to represents peace like on the WAGGGS flag. Or you could use the blue, or maybe add three of something to represent the three parts of our Promise.
Are you happy with your flag? Add anything else that you might want to represent you on your flag. For more fun, you could look at flags from other countries to see if there is anything you want to add as well. For example, you could add stars to represent every person in your family.
Once you’re finished with your flag, show it to someone else. Maybe you can share it with a friend or family member and explain to them why you chose the symbols you did. You could even host a video call with some of your friends and compare flags.
We hope you enjoyed making a flag and that you learned a little more about yourself and the Girl Guides and Girl Scouts all around the world who share the WAGGGS world flag.
And If you liked this activity, you can find more global activities on our website girlscouts.org/forgirls—click on “Think Globally.”
Troop Leaders: The instructions for all badge steps
are available free of charge in the Girl Scout Volunteer Toolkit.
Girl Scout Activity Zone activities have been adapted from existing Girl Scout programming.