Pink Flamingo Patrol

The Pink Flamingo Patrol is the name of the Eagle Scout patrol in Boy Scouts of America Troop 406.

At most Scouting activities, you will see at least one weird guy walking around with a pink flamingo, and you may hear the yell, 'We may be pink, but chicks dig us*.' This group exists because it gives some of the older guys in the troop a chance to have a good time while still staying within the principles of Scouting. We are always in uniform, we bring our patrol flag to activities, and everyone knows our yell. The Patrol is more than just a bunch of older guys messing around, however.

During the summer of 1999, my fellow Scout Eric Finn and I were attending summer camp as the Senior Patrol Leader and Assistant Senior Patrol Leader of the troop. Having those positions, we were not allowed to be in the patrols in the troop. As we were Eagle Scouts, had been on staff, and had done a lot of the merit badges at camp, we were looking for some more adventure. We decided that if we were going to still do the Scouting thing, we were going to have a good time doing it. We decided to make our own patrol. We wanted to pick the wimpiest animal we could think of. So naturally, the flamingo came to mind. So we made our patrol flag. The motto

was created by another Eagle Scout in the troop, Aaron Shira. We spent the week at camp with our pink flamingos, yelling our cheer, and lounging with our pink bathrobes over our uniforms. We had made a name for ourselves. Who would have thought that it would stick? While the patrol started as the leadership patrol, we soon decided to change the purpose for the patrol, and also the membership requirements. We felt that the patrol should consist of older boys that want to give back to the program. In order to sign the Pink Flamingo Patrol Flag, you must be an Eagle Scout in Troop 406 and you must stay active in the troop. Only when the other active members of the patrol feel that you truly do have intentions of continuing in the troop will you have this right. This Patrol has been successful in keeping boys in the troop longer (often well into their 30’s as myself), helping the younger boys become more scout-like, and just making activities more enjoyable throughout the year. Hopefully this patrol will continue long into the future.

*On a side note, members of the Pink Flamingo Patrol have often been told that our yell is not true. Apparently people believe that we are trying to say that women think the members of the patrol are cool. In fact, the cheer merely says that female flamingos are attracted to male flamingos, which is completely true.