Quote Originally Posted by Mickey View Post
I also see kids that I know personally in bits of scout wear here that I know were not in the scouts and it bugs me too. Not my place to say anything to them, but yeah.
Actually, BSA (US) items are restricted to registered members only, and the National office rigorously defends that position. In the past, celebrities who have worn parts of uniforms as part of their costume, etc., have been asked to stop wearing them (Destiny's Child and Axl Rose are relatively recent examples). Thrift stores are routinely asked to cull their secondhand clothing and remove any uniform items and hand them over to their local council office to prevent non-members from purchasing/wearing those items. (It's a question that has come up in the past at adult leader training sessions in my local council).

As far as I know, the local councils don't have a directive to police the use of the uniform (the professionals don't stop everyone they see with a bit of uniform to check their membership status), but there's an effort to reduce the possibility of poor reflection on the Scout movement by people wearing bits and behaving badly.

Depending on the circumstances, I probably wouldn't say anything to the person wearing the item in question, but I would be perturbed. If I were wearing my uniform, I might say something, especially if it were a girl wearing a Cub Scout shirt (the BSA is boys only to age 14). (99% of the time, I'm wearing it per the Insignia Guide guidelines, which lends a bit of 'official' weight.)


For the OP topic, I'm torn between the two camps: on the one hand, I'd be glad to see someone wearing any of the Scott tartans. I'd be curious as to their connection, but wouldn't necessarily ask. On the other hand, it's a bit of a rarity in this part of the country (there aren't that many Clan Scott members around here - right now it's just me in KY), so I'd be interested in finding out if they know about the Clan Scott Society and possibly determine if we were related.