The Troop 53 Logo and Patch

History & Meaning

The current Troop 53 logo came into being in the early 1990s. Several logos had come and gone over the years but it was decided that we needed one which was more colorful, better designed, and more multi-purpose than the designs in existence then. Ed Ackermann, Committee Chairman at the time, came up with the design. Patches of the logo are used on our troop neckerchiefs, hence the shape, but have also been used on caps. Ed's design took its cues from the flag of Belleville, Illinois and the BSA fleur-de-lis logo:

According to the Belleville Chamber of Commerce the flag of Belleville was "Designed in 1964 as part of Belleville's sesquicentennial celebration, its colors are symbolic of the city's strengths. Black represents the rich soil. Yellow shows the mineral wealth. Green symbolizes agriculture. White is indicative of culture and plenty. The posthorn stands for the blend of Old World pioneers who settled here and the city's musical heritage."

To keep the number of colors and corresponding patch cost to a minimum, the fleur-de-lis was done in black and white. This design remained essentially unchanged for more than 10 years. When he developed the original Troop 53 Smart Books, Gary Main scanned a patch to use on the covers. That file was then used on the original Troop 53 website and on this website as well. Greg Aaron painted it on the front and rear of our troop trailer. Versions both stylized and true to the original have been painted on patrol boxes. So the original goal of having a multi-use design was more than met.

In 2003 (then-) Assistant Scoutmaster Frank Kurz took it upon himself to update the design to make it more eye-catching in print or on screen. He took the original patch scan and "Photoshopped" it, cleaning up the colors and giving them a bit more "pop". The edges were sharpened and a full-color fleur-de-lis replaced the monochrome one.

This revised logo was fully incorporated into troop53.net in early 2004 and is now used on the Smart Book covers and in much of our printed material. The next generation of Troop 53 t-shirts and hoodies will also have this logo, but probably in 2 or 3 colors.