Swiss Guide and Scout Movement

Swiss Guide and Scout Movement
The historical membership badge of the Schweizer Pfadfinderbund incorporates the national colors
Country	Switzerland
Founded	1912
Membership	55,000 (2022)
Affiliation	World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, World Organization of the Scout Movement
Website Swiss Guide and Scout Movement
Scouting portal

The Swiss Guide and Scout Movement (SGSM) (German: Pfadibewegung Schweiz (PBS), French: Mouvement Scout de Suisse (MSdS), Italian: Movimento Scout Svizzero (MSS), Rumantsch: Moviment Battasendas Svizra (MBS)) is the national Scouting and Guiding association of Switzerland formed in 1987. Scouting was founded in Switzerland in 1912 and was among the charter members of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1922 and among the founding members of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 1928. The SGSM has more than 50,500 members in about 550 local groups (as of 2022).^[1]

The Swiss Guide and Scout Movement is mixed at all levels. The only thing that still reminds of the old separation between Girl Guides and Boy Scouts is that some of the terms for different levels (in one or more of the three major languages spoken in Switzerland) are different.

The young age of Swiss leaders is a tradition, "the young lead the young".^[2] Even members of the district or national committees are rarely older than 30. The result is more freedom at the unit level, no discrimination^{[citation needed]}, and a very important experience in leadership for young people.

The mandatory parts of the Swiss uniform are the shirt, the neckerchief, any kind of good hiking boots, a fire lighter and a Swiss army knife. Optional parts are belt, Scout jeans, hat, dagger, etc. A youth receives his/her neckerchief and vulgo (Scout name) from his unit leader in an initiation ceremony.