Object, motto and emblem
The stated object of the Boys' Brigade is "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." Except for the addition of the word "obedience" in 1893, the contents of the object has remained unchanged from the beginning.[5] However, some countr
ies, particularly those which permit girls on their membership roll, have re-worded the object for gender neutrality. For example, in Malaysia, the word "manliness" has been changed to "character". When designing the Brigade's motto and crest, William Smith referred directly to Hebrews 6:19 in the King James Version of the Bible, "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast...".[2]
From this verse came the BB motto, "Sure and Stedfast", retaining the old spelling of the latter word.[5] Today, some parts of the movement (only the UK and the ROI) have adopted the modern spelling of "steadfast", whilst all others continue to use the older spelling.[3][6]
The crest was originally a plain anchor, bearing the BB motto with a capital 'B' on either side. Upon the merger between the Boys' Brigade and the Boys' Life Brigade in 1926, the red Greek cross was placed behind the anchor to form the current emblem.[3] The cross originally formed part of emblem of the Boys' Life Brigade
The Girls' Brigade is an international and interdenominational Christian youth organization. It was founded in 1893 in Dublin, Ireland.[1] The modern organization was formed as the result of the amalgamation of three like-minded and similarly structured organizations in 1964.[2] These organizations were the Girls' Brigade of Ireland (1893), the Girls' Guildry of Scotland (1900), and the Girls' Life Brigade of England (1902). The International Headquarters are currently based in Glasgow.[3]
The organization operates in over 60 countries worldwide and is divided into five Fellowships: African, Asian, Caribbean and Americas, European, and Pacific.[4] International Conferences are held every four years, this has been happening since 1998 when the conference was in Australia.[2] It was in Thailand in 2002, Northern Ireland in 2006, and Malaysia in 2010.[5] The Queen Mother and Princess Alice were Girls' Brigade's patrons until their deaths in 2002 and 2004 respectively. There are, at the moment, no living patrons.[6] The anthem of the girls brigade is the hymn Give me oil in my lamp.
