The first World Scout Jamboree was organized in 1920 by The Boy Scout Association in London, England, at the impetus of scouting’s founder, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell. With exceptions for the World War II years, there has been an international jamboree approximately every four years. Now governed by the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), jamborees have been held in different locations over the world. And no scouting event would be complete without a wide variety of colorful embroidered patches to commemorate the event.
Baden-Powell’s Scouting program gained an international following from its inception in England in 1907 and Boy Scouts of America trace their roots back to 1910. With its continuing worldwide expansion, Baden-Powell thought a gatherng of representatives of Scouting from all around the globe would help young boys in the movement learn about other peoples and nations, promoting brotherhood through direct interaction.
The General Chief of the Scouts of Greece, Konstantinos (“Kokos”) Melas, proposed the gatherings should repeat every four years, in the same way Olympic Games were held in ancient Greece and recently revitalized in 1896. His suggestion was enthusiastically accepted by Baden-Powell, who is credited with christening the meetings as “Jamborees”.
The World War intervened with initial plans, but in 1920, the first World Scout Jamboree was held in London with more than 8,000 Scouts from 34 countries attending the event. While we couldn’t find an image of a 1920 patch, there probably was one created – there was an embroidered patch from the second event in Denmark. 
Jamborees have continued since as shown below:
2nd Ermelunden, Denmark 1924
3 Upton, United Kingdom 1929
4 Gödöllő, Hungary 1933
5 Bloemendaal , the Netherlands 1937
6 Moisson, France 1947
7 Bad Ischl, Austria 1951
8 Niagara-on-the-lake, Ontario, Canada 1955
9 Sutton Park, England 1957
10 Philippines 1959
11 Marathon, Greece 1963
12 Farragut State Park, Idaho USA 1967
13 Asagiri Heights, Mount Fuji, Fujinomiya City, Japan 1971
14 Lillehammer, Norway 1975
15 Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada 1983
16 Sydney, Australia 1987-88 (late December into early January)
17 Soraksan National Park, South Korea 1991
18 Dronten, Netherlands 1995
19 Picarquín, Chile Date 1998-99
20 Sattahip Thailand 2008-2009
21 Rinkaby, Sweden 2007
22 Rinkaby, Sweden 2011
23 Kirara Beach, Yamaguchi, Japan 2015 
The 24th World Scout Jamboree will be held at the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in West Virginia during the summer of 2019 with hosting duties to be split between the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Jamborees have even become virtual with electronic gatherings all over the world. Jamboree on the Air, known by its acronym JOTA, is an international Scouting activity held annually on the third full weekend in October when Scouts communicate with each other through the assistance of amateur radio operators. The event was first held in conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of Scouting in 1957. It is now considered the largest event scheduled by the WOSM . And of course, participants get an embroidered patch. Since 2004, Scouts at their computers have participated in Jamboree On The Internet (JOTI).
For many years, the Chicago Embroidery Co. made patches for the national Boy Scouts and we can make handsome patches for your group or organization too. For more information and a free quote, contact us at sales@c-emblem.com , visit http://www.c-emblem.com or call 312-664-4232.
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