How to Add Stripes to Arrow of Light Arrows
The Cub Scout Arrow of Light award arrow details the Cub Scouting career of Scouts. Learn what the stripes mean and how to place them on the arrow’s shaft.
The Arrow of Light is Cub Scout’s highest rank. It is the only Cub Scout badge that can be worn on their Scouts BSA uniform.
In many packs, it’s customary to honor Arrow of Light recipients with a plaque, a ceremonial arrow, or both–usually presented to them by their Arrow of Light den leader.
Some packs will make their own arrows using a wood dowel rod, while different packs will purchase real arrows.
Arrow of Light Arrow Stripes
One of the traditions observed by many packs is to put stripes on the shaft of the arrow to symbolize the Scouts’ individual achievements during their Cub Scout careers.
In my pack, our Scouts added the stripes themselves. In my friend Elizabeth’s pack, the Cub Scout leader does this.
Methods of Adding Stripes
One of three methods is typically used to add the stripes. Some will paint the stripes on to the shaft of the arrow. Some will wind colored embroidery floss around it. Others will use adhesive vinyl strips.
Each method has its pros and cons. Paint may last longer, but it is the most difficult to apply. You have to paint carefully and stay in the lines, and it can get messy.
Colored embroidery floss needs some sort of adhesive so that it will stay attached to the shaft. It is also time-consuming if you want the thread to lay neatly.
Using adhesive vinyl strips is the easiest method. The only con to using adhesive color bands is that they may begin to peel off over time.
Current Arrow of Light Arrow Striping
The Boy Scouts of America doesn’t have a standard for what colors to use on the ceremonial arrows. When you search online for the information, you’ll find some commonalities, but there are some differences.
After some research and “trial and error” testing, here’s what I think would work.
As you know, all the ranks must complete eight adventures–six required and two electives.
They may also work on additional elective adventures.
I measured the shaft on my son’s arrow and checked the length of arrows being sold in an Arrow of Light kit on several websites to determine how much space we would have for stripes.
Using all this information, here is what I’m proposing.
Suggested Arrow of Light Arrow Striping
Use 1/2″ stripes to represent each rank that the Cub Scout earned.
- Lion – Black
- Tiger – Orange
- Wolf – Red
- Bear – Aqua or Teal
- Webelos – Dark Blue
- Arrow of Light – Yellow
There won’t be enough room to add a stripe for the six rank required adventures, so use 1/4″ stripes to represent each adventure a Scout completes in addition to the required six.
These stripes could be any color, but using gold, silver or white makes the most sense to me. Our pack will probably use gold for all of them.
Layout of Stripes
Place the stripe for their first rank on the end closest to the fletching. Next, add the stripes for the additional elective adventures.
Continue with all the ranks, placing the elective adventure stripes after the rank ones.
Each pack (or even each den) can make its own decision about how they want to stripe the Arrow of Light arrows, but I hope these recommendations will be helpful in making that decision.
Yours in Scouting,
Sherry
P.S. Here are my favorite Arrow of Light ceremonies. Click on over and check out the different ceremonies!
38 responses
-
1
-
1
-
We used colored electrical tape for each stripe. The stripes have not come off at all, and it’s been 10 years since my son was a Cub Scout. So, I suggest that’s a better choice than vinyl stickers.
-
[…] P.P.S. Read about my recommendations for how to stripe the Arrow of Light career arrow. […]
-
I am working on Arrows for our AOL plaque. One Scout added a Lion Cerification. WHAT COLOR DO I USE FOR THE LION? The Lion is Yellow.. but with the new 2020 colors.. that’s the same color as AOL. I guess I will use a real light lemon yellow for Lion, then use a gold yellow… (tone it down with a little Tiger Orange) for the AOL segment. My suggestion is: let Lions have the yellow… use a different color.. a special color for AOL, maybe a metallic bronze or copper.. (all my electives are gold).
-
I like the idea of using bronze or copper for AoL and use yellow for Lions! Thanks for the suggestion!
-
-
Thank you so much for this guide! I opted for the white “extra adventures” bands and I altered the awards section slightly but I think they turned out really well. I used embroidery floss and each arrow probably took me about 2 hours to do start to finish.
Here’s a link to a picture of the finished arrows: https://pin.it/7h4WBdr
I used the following color scheme:
Black – Bobcat
Orange – Tiger Rank
White – Extra Adventures
Scarlet Red – Wolf Rank
Light Blue – Bear Rank
Forest Green – Webelos Rank
Lime Green – Arrow of Light Rank
Yellow- NOVA/STEM Awards
Royal Blue – Outdoor Activity Awards
Gold – Summertime Pack Awards
Maroon – National Park Scout Junior Ranger Award
Purple – Religious Knot
Bronze – World Conservation Award
Navy Blue – Cyber Chip
Brown – Shooting Sports Awards
Silver – Whittling Chip-
if I used all the awards you listed.. I would need 2 arrows.. at 1/4″ each segment. We need to add Lion color also.
-
-
[…] You may want to add colorful stripes to the Arrow of Light career arrow. Here are my recommendations for the Arrow of Light arrow striping.</div> […]
-
If you were to use paint, on for example Vince’s arrows that you mention, what type of paint do you use? And, how do you apply it to have a nice even look? Or, if you used the floss, how do you tie it on? Perhaps similar to whipping a rope? It seems that the vinyl stickers would not last very long.
-
I used embroidery floss on my boys arrows and used gorilla super glue to secure the ends of each color. There is definitely a front and back side with the floss. I also burned the names into the arrows in the space that did not have stripping.
-
Jeremy,
Typically, acrylics are used in cresting arrows. A huge plus is that they typically cover in one coat. However, trying to find all the right colors and the expense of buying paint designed for arrows it a bigger minus.
I have been making and painting arrows of light for five years or so. I use Testor’s acrylic model paints. It takes 2-3 coats, depending on color, but there are a vast number of colors. I created templates on powerpoint slides for each scout. You will need some specific tools, such as a manual or slow turning rotisserie and a steady hand.
If you’re handy and have the time, you can make your own arrows, too. It’s a bit more involved and will require some equipment, but if you know someone into archery, they might be able to help.
-
We purchase our plaques from Mountain View Woodworks.
-
-
-
Is it now customary to award Arrow of Light to all Cub Scouts? When my sons (now up for Eagle Scout Board of Review) were awarded Arrow of Light , it was a huge event akin to The Eagle Scout Award in Cub Scouting. It seems all Cub Scouts are now given Arrow of Light, which in my opinion, takes away the uniqueness of the award.
-
Hi, Lauren! Thanks for your comments. I had always thought that the Arrow of Light was an award, but in fact, it’s a rank. Take a look at page 6 of this FAQ that was written when the new program came out in 2015. http://www.scouting.org/filestore/program_update/pdf/Cub%20Adventure%20Program%20FAQs.pdf
-
That document says it’s both. It’s synonymous. We’ve always called it an award at Roundtable since they are still Webelos (18 month program) and usually presented at B&G (or crossover) and immediately cross over.
-
-
Leave a Reply