The Scarlet Scarf

When Gang Show was started in London by Ralph Reader in 1932 he and his assistants decided to organise the Show as a Scout Troop. This arrangement was so successful that it has been carried out ever since. The Cumberland Gang is run on the Patrol System and holds Patrol Councils.

The boys who were members of the early Gang Show Troop wanted some kind of identification and it was decided to adopt a distinctive scarf. Who actually decided on the Scarlet Scarf is unknown, but it became a tradition and an identification sign. However, when Gang Shows started to spring up all over England and other parts of the world, all wearing the Scarlet Scarf, some form of local identification was needed and London showed the way by embroidering, in gold, the insignia "G.S. London" on the point of the scarf. Today each Gang has its local identifying badge in gold on the point of the scarf.