The Silver World Award is a distinguished service award of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth partici ...

(BSA). It is presented for noteworthy and extraordinary service to youth on an international basis. Recipients must be a citizen of a country with a

Scouting Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth Social movement, movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hik ...

program that is a member of the World Scout Conference. Registered members of the BSA are not eligible for this award.

Award

The award consists of a silver medallion enameled in blue with meridian lines, stars and the universal emblem of the BSA suspended from a red and white striped ribbon worn around the neck. The medallion represents the global scope of the award. Recipients may wear the corresponding square knot, with a design that reflects the award.

History

The Silver World Award was created in 1971 and originally was presented to those who provided international service to the Scouting programs of the BSA, but were not registered members of the BSA. Nominations were to be approved by the

Chief Scout Executive The Chief Scout Executive is the top professional of the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America. In most similar non-profit organizations, this is equivalent to the position of CEO, national executive director Executive director is co ...

, the

national president National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

, the international commissioner, or the national commissioner, all of whom had the authority to present to any persons they might choose.

Criterion

Today, public nominations for the award are no longer accepted, but it is used by the executive leadership of the BSA for recognition of world leaders in International Scouting, on the following basis and procedure: The award may be presented to citizens of any country whose Scout association is a member of the

World Organization of the Scout Movement The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOSM ...

, in recognition of his or her service of exceptional character to the youth of his or her own country, or on an international basis. The recipient does not have to be a member of a Scout association. United States citizens may receive the Silver World Award for international service to youth, provided they are not registered members of the

. Approved awards may be presented by an authorized member of the

either by a personal visit with the recipient or at an official meeting of a National Scout Association, including the BSA. As evidence of the award, there will be presented a suitable certificate duly authorized by the Boy Scouts of America.

Recipients

, there have been 126 Silver World Awardees. Note: This list is presented in the order of awards as published by the Boy Scouts of America International Department. * 1971— Charles Dymoke Green, Jr. (United Kingdom); László Nagy (Switzerland); John W. Sharp (Canada); Olave Baden-Powell (United Kingdom) * 1972—

Taizō Ishizaka was a leading Japanese businessman and President of the Japanese Federation of Economic Organizations (now the Japan Business Federation) who served as Chairman of the National Board of the Boy Scouts of Japan. Background In 1956, in his role ...

( Japan); Saburō Matsukata (Japan); Tsunao Okumura (Japan);

Antonio C. Delgado Antonio Concepcion Delgado (December 21, 1917 - December 7, 1992) was an industrialist and civic leader who was appointed Holy See–Philippines relations, Philippine Ambassador to the Holy See, Vatican. Early life Antonio Delgado was born in ...

(Philippines); Charles Celier (France);

E. Bower Carty Edward Bower Carty (24 April 1916 – May 23, 2001) was a Canadian public servant who served as the Chairman of the World Scout Committee. In 1975, Carty was awarded the 95th ''Bronze Wolf'', the only distinction of the World Organization of the ...

(Canada) A. Wallace Denny (Canada); Misael Pastrana Borrero (Columbia); Adolfo Aristeguieta G. (Venezuela); Ramon Ocando Perez (Venezuela);

Julio Montes Taracena Julio Montes Taracena (1915–1997) of Guatemala served as a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in Geneva, Switzerland from 1979 to 1985. In 1977, Montes was awarded the 120th ''Bronze Wolf'', the only distinction of the Worl ...

(Guatemala); Samuel Hart (Jamaica); Nahim Isaias B. (Ecuador); Sir Paul Hasluck (Australia);

Sir John Marshall Sir John Hubert Marshall (19 March 1876, Chester, England – 17 August 1958, Guildford, England) was an English archaeologist who was Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India from 1902 to 1928. He oversaw the excavations of Ha ...

(New Zealand); Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX (Indonesia); Mohammad Reza Pahlavi Aryamehr Shahanshan of Iran (Iran);

Golda Meir Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and ''kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to ...

(Israel) * 1973— Salvador Fernández Beltrán (Switzerland); Bruce H. Garnsey (Australia);

Jomo Kenyatta Jomo Kenyatta (22 August 1978) was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He was the country's first indigeno ...

(Kenya);

Haile Selassie I Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia ('' ...

(Ethiopia); Demetrios Alexantos (Greece);

Oscar de Oliveira Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

(Brazil) * 1974— Victor Steiner (El Salvador); Dr. Gustavo J. Vollmer (Venezuela); Luis Esteban Palacios W. (Venezuela); Johan Kromann (Denmark);

Robin Gold Lt. Col. Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieute ...

(United Kingdom);

Arthur Eugster Arthur Eugster (5 April 1863 – 7 January 1922) was a Swiss politician of Appenzell Ausserrhoden, President of the Swiss National Council The President of the National Council of Switzerland (german: Nationalratspräsident; french: Président ...

(Switzerland); Lakshmi Mazumdar (India);

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

( Vatican) * 1975— Chuan-kai Teng (Taiwan);

Shintarō Negishi (-‡ 2005 to 2008) served as the Chairman of the National Executive Council of the Boy Scouts of Japan. Background In 1975, Negishi was awarded the 105th '' Bronze Wolf'', the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, a ...

(Japan); Odd Hopp (Norway);

Sven H. Bauer Sven H. Bauer served as the International Commissioner of the Svenska Scoutrådet, the Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic l ...

(Sweden);

Hossein Banai Under the direction of Hossein Banai ( fa, حسین بنایی), Iranian Scouting became a member of the World Bureau of the World Organization of the Scout Movement for the second time in 1955. Banai served on the World Scout Committee of the ...

(Iran); The Princess Benedikte (Denmark);

Emperor Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

(Japan);

King Olav V Olav V (; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was the King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991. Olav was the only child of King Haakon VII of Norway and Maud of Wales. He became heir apparent to the Nor ...

(Norway) * 1976— King Carl XVI Gustaf (Sweden); Sherman K. Ramsingh (Trinidad and Tobago);

Jorge Toral Azuela Jorge Toral Azuela served as the International Commissioner of the Asociación de Scouts de México, Asociación Civil. In 1975, he was awarded the 103rd '' Bronze Wolf'', the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, awar ...

(Mexico); Sir William Gladstone, Bt., DL (United Kingdom);

Shieh You-Hwa Shieh You-hwa () served as a member of the Asia-Pacific Scout Committee. In 1976, Shieh was awarded the 111th ''Bronze Wolf'', the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, awarded by the World Scout Committee for exceptio ...

(Taiwan) * 1977— Spencer W. Kimball (United States);

Francisco Macías Valadéz Francisco Macías Valadéz served as the International Commissioner of the Asociación de Scouts de México, Asociación Civil. In 1971, he was awarded the 69th ''Bronze Wolf'', the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement ...

(Mexico) * 1978— John Beresford (United Kingdom); Roberto Dorion B. (Guatemala);

Kenneth H. Stevens Kenneth Henry "Ken" Stevens, CBE, DL (8 October 1922 – 18 November 2005) served as the Chief Executive Commissioner of the Scout Association, Camp Chief's Deputy at Gilwell Park, and the Executive Commissioner of the 2nd World Scout Indaba ...

(United Kingdom) * 1979— Col. Sang Myong Ree (Korea); J. Percy Ross (Canada) * 1980— Ivo Stern Becka (Mexico);

Wallace B. Smith Wallace Bunnell Anthony Smith (born July 29, 1929) is an American who was Prophet-President of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS) (now Community of Christ), from April 5, 1978, through April 15, 1996. The son of ...

(United States) * 1981—

Daniel Arap Moi Daniel Toroitich arap Moi ( ; 2 September 1924 – 4 February 2020) was a Kenyan politician who served as the second president of Kenya from 1978 to 2002. He was the country's longest-serving president. Moi previously served as the third vice ...

(Kenya); Leonard F. Jarrett (Switzerland); Bennett B. Shotade (Africa Region

(WOSM)) * 1982— Alexander Gibson (Bahamas); John R. Phillpot (Bahamas); Percival R. Siebold ( World Scout Bureau); Yoshio Sakurauchi (Japan) * 1983—

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

, (Vatican); Tan Sri Kamarul Ariffin (Malaysia) * 1984—

Archbishop Iakovos of America Archbishop Iakovos of North and South America ( el, Ιάκωβος; born Demetrios Koukouzis (Δημήτριος Κουκούζης); July 29, 1911 – April 10, 2005) was the primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North and South America ...

(United States); Jarl Wahlström (Finland); Enrique Alfaro (Mexico); Rolando Gonzalez (Venezuela); Rudolgo Kantor (Chile); Reginald K. Groome, OC (Canada) * 1985— John L. MacGregor (Canada) * 1986— Antonio Pozzi Pardo (Mexico); Kō Yoshida (Japan); Patrick A. McLaughlin (Switzerland) * 1987— Peter Pessoa (Brazil); Suk-Won Kim (Korea) * 1988—

Fritz Vollmar Dr. Fritz Vollmar served as the Director General of the World Scout Foundation. In 1988, Vollmar was awarded the 196th '' Bronze Wolf'', the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, awarded by the World Scout Committee ...

(Switzerland); James Blain (Canada) * 1989— Franz Dunshirn (Austria); Morrey Cross (Canada) * 1990— Juan Neiman (Guatemala); Sir Marc Noble (United Kingdom) * 1991— F. O. Ogunlana ( World Scout Committee, Nigeria) * 1992— Herbert C. Pitts (Canada); Hartmut Keyler (Germany); Sven Erik Ragnar (Sweden);

Garnet de la Hunt Herbert William Garnet de la Hunt (25 August 1933 – 28 April 2014) served as the Chief Scout of the Boy Scouts of South Africa, as well as the Vice-Chairman of the Africa Scout Committee, and was the first South African to be elected to the ...

(South Africa) * 1993— Jacques Moreillon (Switzerland) * 1995— Garth Morrison (United Kingdom) * 1996— Neil M. Westaway (Australia) * 1997—

Geoffrey W. Wheatley Geoffrey W. Wheatley of Canada was the chairman of the Interamerican Scout Committee. In 1998, he was awarded the 269th ''Bronze Wolf'', the only distinction of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, awarded by the World Scout Committee for e ...

(Canada);

Aleksander Kwasniewski Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

of Poland;

Ezer Weizman Ezer Weizman (; he, עֵזֶר וַיצְמָן ''Ezer Vaytsman''; 15 June 1924 – 24 April 2005) was the seventh President of Israel, first elected in 1993 and re-elected in 1998. Before the presidency, Weizman was commander of the Israeli Ai ...

(Israel) * 1998— Ryutaro Hashimoto;

Carlos Enrique Rivera Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewhe ...

(Guatemala); President

Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ga, Máire Pádraigín Mhic Ghiolla Íosa; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer and former politician who served as the eighth president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. She is an academic ...

of Ireland;

Francisco Roman Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco (name), Paco". Francis of Assisi, San Francisco de Asís was known as '' ...

(Philippines) * 1999—

Joseph Estrada Joseph Ejercito Estrada, (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor. He served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, the 9th vice presi ...

(Philippines); Klaus Johann Jacobs (Switzerland) * 2001— Akira Watanabe (Japan) * 2002— ''None awarded'' * 2003— Jørgen G. Rasmussen (Denmark) * 2004— John A. Gemmill (Canada); Howard E. Kilroy (Ireland) * 2007—

Lars Kolind Lars Kolind (born 5 May 1947) is a Danish businessman. Kolind holds an M.Sc. in Mathematics from Aarhus University from 1972 and a B.Comm. from the Copenhagen Business School from 1977. He is adjunct professor of leadership and strategy at A ...

(Denmark); Alexander S. Bondar (Ukraine); Emperor

Akihito is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 7 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. He presided over the Heisei era, ''Heisei'' being an expression of achieving peace worldwide. B ...

* 2008— John Geoghegan ( World Scout Foundation, Ireland);

Göran Hägerdal Karl Göran Hägerdal (born March 11, 1966 in Kristdala parish, Kalmar County, SwedenSveriges befolkning 1990, CD-ROM, Version 1.00, Riksarkivet (2011)) is the Global Director of Scouting Development at the World Scout Bureau headquarters of the Wo ...

(Sweden) * 2010— Mohamed Ali Khalid (Asia Pacific Region WOSM, India) * 2011— Simon Hang-Bock Rhee (Korea) * 2012— Luc Panissod (Switzerland); Jejomar Binay of the Philippines;

Abdullah Rasheed Abdullah Rasheed (1952) ( ar, عبد الله رشيد) from Male, Maldives served as the Regional Director of the Asia-Pacific Region of the World Scout Bureau, and serves as a Consultant at World Scout Bureau Kuala Lumpur Office. Rasheed is a ...

(Maldives) * 2015— Siegfried Weiser, World Scout Foundation * 2018— João Armando Gonçalves (Portugal); Jemima N. Nartey (Vice Chairperson,

) * 2019—

Ahmad Alhendawi Ahmad Alhendawi (أحمد الهنداوي) (born 20 May 1984) currently serves as the Secretary-General of the World Organization of the Scout Movement, the youngest in the history of the organization. Prior to this, he was the first-ever United N ...

(Secretary-General of the

) * 2021— Michael (Mike) D. Scott (Canada); Omar Lugo Aguirre (Mexico)

References

{{Scouting Advancement and recognition in the Boy Scouts of America Awards established in 1971