No, I’m not talking about the ones we tie with ropes. I’m talking about the obscure rectangles shown at left. Adult scout leaders in the BSA receive these knots for training, service, and achievements.

But they’re incomprehensible to most people, even scouting volunteers. I just created an online resource if you’d like to ‘crack the code’ posed by these knots.

I created two sets of “flash cards” on the Quizlet.com web site. One set contains all of the square knots that a leader may earn, according to the BSA Awards and Insignia Guide. The other set shows obsolete and unofficial knots that might still appear on a leader’s uniform.

Quizlet offers a few ways to study the knots. There are flash cards showing one or both sides. It also provides games to play when you think you know the knots.