Scout Motto

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Template other The Scout Motto of the Scout movement is, in English, "Be Prepared", with most international branches of the group using a close translation of that phrase. These mottoes have been used by millions of Scouts around the world since 1907. Most of the member organizations of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) share the same mottoes.

In the first part of Scouting for Boys, Robert Baden-Powell explains the meaning of the phrase:

The scouts' motto is founded on my initials, it is:

BE PREPARED,

which means, you are always in a state of readiness in mind and body to do your DUTY;

Be Prepared in Mind by having disciplined yourself to be obedient to every order, and also by having thought out beforehand any accident or situation that might occur, so that you know the right thing to do at the right moment, and are willing to do it.

Be Prepared in Body by making yourself strong and active and able to do the right thing at the right moment, and do it.

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Baden-Powell on "Be Prepared"

Baden-Powell provides several descriptions of how and for what situations a Scout must be prepared elsewhere in Scouting for Boys. In his explanation of the third point of the Scout Law, Baden-Powell says:

A Scout's Duty is to be Useful and to Help Others.

And he is to do his duty before anything else, even though he gives up his own pleasure, or comfort, or safety to do it. When in difficulty to know which of two things to do, he must ask himself, "Which is my duty?" that is, "Which is best for other people?"—and do that one. He must Be Prepared at any time to save life, or to help injured persons. And he must do a good turn to somebody every day.

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In the opening chapter of Scouting for Boys, Baden-Powell says:

Every boy ought to learn how to shoot and to obey orders, else he is no more good when war breaks out than an old woman, and merely gets killed like a squealing rabbit, being unable to defend himself.

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Baden-Powell discusses more skills required of Scouts in Chapter IV of Scouting for Boys, which addresses camp life, and he lists:

• Tying knots
• Making a bivouac shelter for the night, or a hut for longer-term camping
• Using an axe or bill-hook to fell small trees and branches
• Mending and even making clothes and boots
• Cooking meat and vegetables, and making bread without regular cooking utensils
• Driving sheep, cattle and horses
• Killing and butchering cattle
• Milking cows or goats

Advice given by Baden-Powell in Chapter V on campaigning includes the requirements of:

• Being able to find one's way by night and by day
• Being able to read a barometer, and signs of the weather
• Judging distance from an inch up to a mile or more
• Knowing the points of a compass

In a chapter discussing endurance, Baden-Powell writes that a scout should be able to:

• Smell well in order to find his enemy by night
• Hear well
• Have good eyesight to notice things rapidly and at distance

In Chapter VII, Baden-Powell discussed how Scouts prepare themselves to protect women and how they can improve themselves. He says a scout should walk with a woman on his left "so that his right is free to protect her", walking on the other side in the streets to protect her from traffic. Baden-Powell adds to "Be Prepared" for the future by learning a trade and saving up pay.

Chapter VIII of Scouting for Boys discussed saving life. On this topic, Baden-Powell says that a scout should be prepared by:

• Learning beforehand what to do in the event of likely accidents
• Being prepared to do what is required the moment that an accident does occur
• Knowing how to deal with a mad dog, and being prepared to take the necessary action
• Knowing how to react to a person's suicide attempt

In the chapter on patriotism, Baden-Powell says to "Be Prepared to die for your country if need be, so that when the moment arrives you may charge home with confidence, not caring whether you are going to be killed or not."

The first handbook for Girl Guides, How Girls Can Help to Build Up the Empire by Agnes and Robert Baden-Powell, similarly explains:

The motto of the Girl Guides is "Be Prepared". Why is this? It is because, like the other Guides, you have to be prepared at any moment to face difficulties and even dangers by knowing what to do and how to do it.

(The "other Guides" of this quote are the Khyber Guide Regiment.)

Acrostic

Hilary Saint George Saunders' book The Left Handshake: The Boy Scout Movement during the War, 1939–1945 had the first name of each chapter spell out the Scout motto. The chosen names are: Bravery, Enterprise, Purpose, Resolution, Endurance, Partnership, Assurance, Reformation, Enthusiasm and Devotion.

Motto in various languages

File:Bolt Allzeit-bereit.jpg

Swiss Boy Scout book Allzeit bereit ("Always prepared") from 1916

Many languages have masculine and feminine forms of words – where gender changes the Scout Motto, differences are reflected here. Template:Needs IPA

Motto in various languages

Language	Countries	Boy Scouts	Girl Guides or Girl Scouts	Organizational variant	Translation (if other than "Be prepared")	Transliteration or pronunciation
Afrikaans	Namibia, South Africa
Albanian	Albania			Pergatitu	"Always prepared"
Amharic	Ethiopia				"Ready"
Arabic	Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara, Yemen			in Jordan, Libya, and Syria
Armenian	Armenia			Partsratsir partsratsour	"Always ready" "Elevate yourself and others with you"	Misht Badrast
Azeri	Azerbaijan
Basque	Basque Country	Beti prest			"Always ready"
Belarusian	Belarus					Budz' hatoǔ!
Bengali	Bangladesh				"Do your best to be prepared for service"	Sebar jannoa sada prastut thakte jathasadhya chesta kara Sada prastut
Bislama	Vanuatu				"Prepare"
Bosnian	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bulgarian	Bulgaria					Bădi gotov Bădi gotova
Burmese	Burma				"Ever ready"	A-sin-thint
Cantonese	Hong Kong, Macau				"Prepare"	Zeon2 bei6
Chinese (Traditional)	Taiwan				"Prepare"	Zhǔnbèi
Catalan	Andorra, Catalonia, Balearic Islands, Valencia				"Always ready"
Chavacano	Zamboanga				"Always prepared!"
Chichewa	Malawi
Cook Islands Māori	Cook Islands
Croatian	Croatia
Czech	Czech Republic
Danish	Denmark				"Protect and serve!"
Divehi	Maldives					Abadhuves thayyarah
Dutch	Belgium, the Netherlands, Suriname			in Belgium, in the Netherlands, in Suriname
Dzongkha	Bhutan					"Dra drig bay"
English	Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, The Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Liberia, Namibia, Nigeria, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom, United States, Zambia, Zimbabwe	Be prepared
Esperanto	(Skolta Esperanto Ligo)
Estonian	Estonia
Faroese	Faroe Islands
Fijian	Fiji
Filipino	Philippines	Laging Handa!			"Always ready!"
Finnish	Finland			(in Swedish)
French	Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Monaco, Morocco, New Caledonia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia			("Ready to serve") in Burkina Faso; ("Be prepared!") widespread; ("To be prepared") in Haiti and Lebanon; ("Always straight"/"Always upstanding") in Senegal	"Always ready!"
Georgian	Georgia					Ikavi mzad
German	Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Namibia, Switzerland			in Namibia	"Always prepared!" "As good as I can!"
Gilbertese	Kiribati
Greek	Cyprus, Greece					Éso étoimos! Éso étoimi!
Hawaiian	Hawaii
Modern Hebrew	Israel					Heye nachon
Hindi	India				"Prepared"	Taiyar
Hungarian	Hungary				"Be watchful!"
Icelandic	Iceland				"Always prepared!"
Indonesian	Indonesia				"My promise becomes my law, my law becomes my devotion"
Interlingua
Irish	Ireland
Italian	Italy, San Marino, Switzerland			CNGEI uses (feminine ) and the Catholic organization AGESCI uses the Latin translation Estote parati from Lc 12,40 and Mt 24,44
Japanese	Japan				"Always be prepared"	Sonae-yo tsuneni
Kazakh	Kazakhstan			(in Russian)		Dayyin bol! Bud' gotov!
Kinyarwanda	Rwanda
Kirundi	Burundi
Korean	South Korea				"Preparation"	Junbi
Kyrgyz	Kyrgyzstan			(in Russian)		Dayar bol Bud' gotov
Khmer	Cambodia					Triam kloun
Lao	Laos				"Prepared"
Latin				Some Italian associations (usually Catholic) use this form
Latvian	Latvia	; response	; response		"Be watchful" "Always watchful!"
Lithuanian	Lithuania	; response
Luxembourgish	Luxembourg				"Loyal to the country!"
Macedonian	North Macedonia					Bidi podgotven
Malagasy	Madagascar				"Always prepared"
Malay	Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore			in Malaysia
Maltese	Malta
Mongolian	Mongolia				"Become prepared!" "(I am) ready forever!"	Belen bol! Hezeed belhen!
Montenegrin	Montenegro					Budi spreman
Nepali	Nepal					Tayar hou
Netsilik Inuit	Nunavut
Niuean	Niue
Norwegian	Norway	; response			"Be prepared!" "Always prepared!"
Papiamento	Aruba, Netherlands Antilles	(in Dutch)		in Netherlands Antilles
Pashto	Afghanistan				"Attention"	Tayar osay
Persian	Iran					Âmâdeh bâsh
Polish	Poland				"Watch!" (imp.)
Portuguese	Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe		(in Latin)		"Always alert!"
Romanian	Moldova, Romania			in Romania	"Always ready"
Romansh	Switzerland
Russian	Russia					Bud' gotov(a)!
Sakha	Yakutia					Belem buol!
Samoan	American Samoa, Samoa
Serbian	Serbia					Budi spreman
Sinhala	Sri Lanka
Slovakian	Slovakia
Slovene	Slovenia			,	"Always prepared!" "With nature to a better person!"
Somali	Djibouti, Somalia
Sotho	Lesotho
Spanish	Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica*, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea*, Guatemala*, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Uruguay, Venezuela			("Well prepared!") in Mexico; ("Always active!") in Nicaragua, ("Being prepared!") in Peru and Puerto Rico	"Always ready (to serve*)!"	,
Sranan Tongo	Suriname
Swahili	Comoros, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
Swazi	Swaziland
Swedish	Sweden				"Be ready!" "Always ready!"
Syriac	Assyria				"Always ready"	Mthoom 'teeda
Tagalog	Philippines				"Always prepared!"
Tahitian	French Polynesia				"Always prepared!"
Tamil	Sri Lanka					Thayaar nilayil iru!
Tajik	Tajikistan			(in Russian)		Taiyor bosh Bud' gotov!
Thai	Thailand				"Better to die than to lie"	Sia chip ya sia sat
Tibetan	Tibet (PRC)
Tok Pisin	Papua New Guinea
Tongan	Tonga
Tswana	Botswana
Turkish	Turkey			,	"Always prepared!"
Turkmen	Turkmenistan				"Always prepared!"
Tuvan	Tuva				"Become prepared!"	Belen bol!
Urdu	India, Pakistan			Teyar raho!	"Prepared"	Almustaid
Ukrainian	Ukraine			(an acronym for )	"With strength! With beauty! With care! With speed!"	Bud' hotoviy! SKOB!
Uyghur	Xinjiang (PRC)					Teyyar bol
Uzbek	Uzbekistan			(in Russian)		Tayyor bo'l Bud' gotov
Vietnamese	Vietnam
Zarma	Niger				"Get ready"

Similar mottoes in other organizations

• Aston Villa F.C.'s earliest documented club crest, the Lion Rampant To dexter (facing left) on a shield with motto "Prepared", was first documented in the club program of 1 September 1906.
• The motto of the Young Pioneers, Always prepared in various national languages, the Pioneers having been created as an alternative in countries under Communist rule where Scouting was banned.
• The motto of the United States Coast Guard, Semper Paratus or 'always ready'.
• The motto of the British Army's Parachute Regiment, Utrinque Paratus or 'ready for anything'.

Another motto mentioned in Scouting for Boys

In Part IV, Chapter VI of the first edition of Scouting for Boys, Baden-Powell mentioned another Scout Motto:

A scout's motto is "Never say die till you're dead"—and if he acts up to this it will pull him out of many a bad place when everything seems to be going wrong for him. It means a mixture of pluck, patience, and strength, which we call "Endurance."

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See also

• Scouting Round the World
• Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation#Slogan and greeting