Place

Quebec

Date

1970s

Materials & techniques

Cotton; Stitched, embroidered

Credit

Girl Guides of Canada

Brownie and Girl Guide badges were often the first items young girls in Canada learned to sew. Added to their uniforms, each badge referred to a skill acquired such as gymnastics, gardening, cycling, crafts, exploring, cooking, and first aid. Today, special interests and knowledge areas recognized with badges include active living, money talk, family heritage, and aboriginal peoples of Canada.

Brownies were first organized by Lord Baden-Powell in 1914, to complete the range of age groups for girls in Scouting. For some time they were the youngest members of the Guide Association and originally run by Agnes Baden-Powell, Lord Baden-Powell's younger sister. In 1918, his wife, Lady Olave Baden-Powell, took over the responsibility for the Girl Guides which included Brownies. Brownies involve girls aged seven years old to nine years old, after which a girl can "fly up" to become a Girl Guide. The traditional Brownie motto has been "lend a hand."