Girlguiding (UK)

The WAGGGS organization of the United Kingdom is Girlguiding, the UK’s largest youth organization devoted to girls.

Girlguiding was originally called The Girl Guides Association when founded in 1909 and changed to The Guide Association in 1994. In 2002 they updated their name to be Girlguiding UK and then simplified that to Girlguiding in 2012.

Click for Individual Level Badge Lists for Girlguiding:

Rainbows (Ages 4-7)
Brownies (Ages 7-10)
Guides (Ages 10-14)
Rangers (Ages 14-18)
Young Leaders (Ages 14-17 who work with younger levels)
Inspire (Ages 18-30)
About Girlguiding Uniforms

At a Glance

Girlguiding was founded in 1909.
There are about 300,000 girl members between the ages of 4 and 18 and about 80,000 adult volunteers according to their 2025 annual report.
Their structure are individual units in divisions within counties in the 9 countries and regions.
Their current Promise was adopted in 2013.
New uniforms were released in July of 2026.

Girlguiding Promise is about being true to yourself, serving King and community, helping others, and keep the Guide Laws.

Girlguiding Law focuses on having integrity, being trustworthy, helping others, time management, facing trials, learning from experiences, being a good friend, scout sisterhood, being considerate, respecting all living things, and taking care of the environment.

The Girlguiding Units

Members meet in a local group called a unit. A unit can sometimes be called a company or a pack. A unit’s name is both a number and a place and the level, such as as “2nd Bangor Brownies.”

Units are all inside Districts. Districts are inside Divisions. Divisions are inside Counties. Some small counties do not have Divisions and go straight from Units to Districts to Counties. There are 9 total countries and regions that hold all the Counties.

Girlguiding is incorporated by Royal Charter. A board of trustees oversees the whole organization. Employed staff are responsible for the work. A Chief Executive is responsible for making sure the work is following the direction agreed upon by the trustees.

Compared with GSUSA: A Girlguiding unit is closest to a Girl Scout troop. A county or region plays a role a little like a GSUSA council, which oversees the troops in its area.

Meetings

A big share of meeting time goes to unit meeting activities (UMA). These are ready-made group activities that last from 10 to 40 minutes and cannot be done alone.

The Programme

There are six themes in every level: Be Well, Express Myself, Have Adventures, Know Myself, Skills for My Future, and Take Action. Each theme has badges in the following three areas:

Interest Badges: These are unique to each level and contain 3 challenges to complete. These are typically done solo with help from the unit for group requirements or when needing to present something done alone. Some units will do them as a group.
Skills Builders: There are 12 topics for all levels. The Skill Builders have the same steps for all levels, but are rated in stages based on difficulty. Rainbows can go up to stage 2 of each of the 12 skills builders. Brownies can go to Stage 3. Guides can go up to Stage 5. Rangers are the only ones allowed to do Stage 6.
Unit Meeting Activities (UMAs): Activities that can only be done as a unit, not on an individual basis and range from 10 minutes to 40 minutes long.

Each theme has a Theme Award. For each award, all levels need 1 Interest Badge plus 1 Skills Builder stage from that theme. Each level has a different number of hours of that theme’s UMAs. Rainbows need 2 hours, Brownies 3 hours, and Guides and Rangers need 4 hours.

All levels have a Bronze, Silver and Gold Award. A member needs to get 2 Theme Awards for Bronze, 4 Theme Awards for Silver, or all 6 Theme Awards, with a final challenge for Gold.

The higher awards only available to Guides and Rangers would be the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) (which has a Bronze, Silver, and Gold level), and the Queen’s Guide (which is only available after you turn 16).

Adventure Badges are outside the programme. Each level has their own set covering: Height, Land, Snow, Sport, Water

Brief History

1909: Girls showed up at a Boy Scout Rally in the UK and called themselves Girl Scouts.
1910: Agnes Baden-Powell, Robert Baden-Powell’s sister, lead the first official group of Girl Guide Association. Girlguiding credits Agnes Baden-Powell with starting guiding in the UK.
1912: Groups were formed in Ireland, Portugal, and Norway.
1914: A section called Rosebuds began for girls under 10. Its name changed a year later to Brownies.
1916: Senior Guides started for older girls.
1919: An international council was created, which would later meet in 1920 and formed the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS).
1920: Senior Guides were named Rangers.
1922: The Royal Charter is dated 14 December 1922.
1926: Girl Scouts and Girl Guides from around the world met in the United States and created a special day called Thinking Day. It was February 22, the birthday of both Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Boy Scouts and co-founder of Girl Guides, and his wife Olave Baden-Powell, the Chief Girl Guide of the UK.
1928: Olave Baden-Powell helped found WAGGGS.
1936: Girl Guides become one of the founding members of The National Council for Voluntary Youth Services (NCVYS).
1943: Trefoil Guild for members over 21 that wanted to be active but were not part of a unit was created. Rainbows, for girls aged 5-7, was created.
1946: The Queen’s Guide award was introduced.
1966: A 195-page report from the review was published called Tomorrow’s Guide.
1968: New uniforms, badges, and awards across all sections were created. Air, Land and Sea Rangers were consolidated into the Senior Branch.
1987: Rainbows, the youngest section, began.
1991: Staged badges were officially introduced after a pilot program (started in 1989) was successful. Additional Staged badges were introduced in 1993, 1995, and 1999.
2002: The name Girlguiding UK was launched, replacing The Guide Association as the public name.
2012: Guilguiding UK was simplified to Girlguiding.
2013: The current Guilguiding promise wording was adapted.
2018: A new programme for Rainbows to Rangers launched, with Skills Builder badges and six themes.
2023: A brand refresh arrived in March, and adventure badges were added in April.
2025: 72 new interest badges doubled the total in each section.
2026: The redesigned uniform launched in July.

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Note: The Badge Archive is an independent site. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Girlguiding, Girl Scouts of the USA, WAGGGS, or any other guiding or scouting organization. Badge, award, and programme names belong to their organizations.

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For More Fun Ideas and Plans

Join the Girl Scout Daisy, Brownie, and Junior Leader Help Facebook Group
_{(Not an official GSUSA Group)}

Join the Girl Scout Cadette, Senior, and Ambassador Leader Help Facebook Group
_{(Not an official GSUSA Group)}

See other Recommended Facebook Groups for some Scouting Organizations
_{(No official Groups)}

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Updated on October 28, 2026. Published on December 26, 2024. Author:

Tia Kennard

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