What uniform do French Girl Guides and Girl Scouts wear?

Answer 1

Scouting and Guiding in France is fragmented with 80 different associations and federations; most are co-educational. There are five World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) member organizations in France.

Depending on the organization and the level, they have a specific color of shirt to wear along with a scarf/neckerchief. The color and pattern of the scarf/neckerchief is usually chosen to represent the Unit (troop).

The color of the shirt varies depending on which organization and which level a girl belongs to. The colors of the age levels are chosen by the member organization.

For example:

Scouts et Guides De France (SGDF)

• Jeunes en marche or Youth on the Move ages 17-20 green shirts
• Caravelle Guide ages 15-16 red shirts
• Guide ages 11-14 blue shirts
• Jeanette or Brownie ages 8-11 orange shirts

Links to their web sites can be found at the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts web site. (See Related Links)

The WAGGGS page shows young girls wearing light blue shirts and a neckerchief worn rolled up and tied in the European style.

The article "L'assimilation � la Nation française en marche" shows a girl in Scouts Musulmans de France wearing a green shirt with multi-colored neckerchief, green head scarf and campaign hat; another girl wears a white head scarf and no hat.

Scouts and Guides are Eclaireurs/Eclaireuses, and there are several organizations - Catholic, Jewish, Unitarian, unionist, evangelical etc. the main one is 'laique' - scrupulously devoid of any religious affiliation. Since 1980 the uniform has been optional, and consist of jeans, a Scout T-shirt (of the appropriate affiliation) and the neckerchief, whose colour varies from group to group.