HISTORY of the

The Boys' Brigade was founded on 4 October 1883 by Sir William Alexander Smith when he formed a company of 35 Boys at Free Church Mission Hall, North Woodside Road, Glasgow.

William Smith, a Sunday School teacher and an officer of the 1^st Lanark Rifle Volunteers devised a unique system of giving Boys an organisation as part of the church based on religion and discipline. Initially, 59 Boys joined, many out of curiosity but 35 of them stayed. Simple form of drill, gymnastics and games were introduced and these proved very popular. The uniform for the first year was a rosette; afterwards the forage cap, haversack and belt were introduced. Other activities were soon added and in 1886 the first BB Camp was held. It was in fact the start of camping for young people.

The Boys' Brigade was the first uniformed youth organisation in the world. From one small company it has grown into a worldwide organisation with companies in over 60 countries.

Following the impact of the Boys' Brigade, other uniformed organisations were started - Church Lads' Brigade (1890) , Boys Life Brigade (1899) , The Jewish Lads' Brigade (1900) , Catholic Boys' Brigade (1900), Girls' Guildry (1900), Girls Life Brigade (1902), Boy Scouts (1908), and the Girl Guides (1910). All of these organisations can trace the idea of uniformed youth back to 1883 and William Smith.

The BB motto "Sure and Stedfast" is taken from Hebrews 6:19. The biblical spelling of stedfast has been retained. It is nowadays commonly spelt as "steadfast", with the additional 'a'.

As seen at the top left corner of this page, the BB emblem consists of an anchor and a cross. It was originally an anchor. Like the motto, it stems from the verse "which hope we have as an anchor of the soul……" (Hebrews 6:19). With the union of the Boys' Brigade and The Boys' Life Brigade in 1926, a red cross was added to the anchor

The object of the Boys' Brigade shall be the advancement of Christ's kingdom among boys and the promotion of habits of Obedience, Reverence, Discipline, Self-Respect and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness. The text of this object has remained the same since the beginning, with 'Obedience' added in 1893.

However the following aims are a useful translation of the Object into everyday goals for the BB Company:

1.To Help Boys to develop and grow in Christian character

2.To train Boys to become loyal and responsible citizens