You can always do your own activity and get your own Fun Patch to put on the back of your uniform. There are some places that have made their own fun patch programs where the patch has requirements to earn just like the official GSUSA badges.

The Girl Scout shops have some, usually ones that have “Girl Scout” written on them to make them specific for a Girl Scout activity.

Other companies sell fun patches at lower prices, but always be aware of what the shipping will be before thinking you found a great discount.

Find a fun patch online, try these locations:

• Advantage Emblem
• Create with DI
• Darling Creations
• E-Patches and Crests
• Joy of Patches
• Mad About Patches
• Making Friends
• Patchwork Design
• Snappy Logos

These badges have the shape of the official ones, but are technically unofficial and should go with the fun patches on the back. But they hit a lot of the missing interests and are great for multi-level troops:

• Artistry to Stitch About
• Create with DI
• Ella J Embroidery
• Rae’s Creations – (Rae’s Creations is changing over to a new owner of the designs at the end of August in 2022 and may be unavailable until the new owner sets up.)

Note on official looking badges that aren’t made by GSUSA – Sometimes you will see a badge that looks like the official badge, but is not done by a council or GSUSA. Many people use the retired Make Your Own Badge (MYOB) program or the retired Troop’s Own program to create their own badge that looks official and call them official. These ‘artistic badges’ can be worked on and earned but are technically supposed to be put on the back of the uniform. Since “there are no badge police” many will still put them on the front of the uniform.

MYOB’s were only allowed once per year and the Girl Scout themselves were supposed to not only create the requirements but design what image would be on the badge itself. So buying an already designed badge technically invalidates using the retired MYOB program use. And earning more than one a year also technically invalidates them.

Troop’s Own in the 1960s were allowed, but you had to do them as a group, not individual. And no one outside that troop or group was allowed to earn the same one. It was designed to be a badge made by a group for that group specifically. So, earning a badge someone else designed technically invalidates using the retired Proficiency Badge Troop’s Own system.

The 1980s never clarified if others could earn your Troop’s Own badge. In practice a lot of girls used other Troop’s Own designs. However, both Junior Troop’s Own and Interest Project badges were asked to submit a scout’s Troop’s Own design and requirements to council for approval before creating and working on the Troop’s Own. So again, it gets technically invalidated for someone else’s designed badge to be placed on the front of the uniform if a council did not review and approve it – which they no longer do since these were retired in 2011.

Links were last checked in April 2022.