Brotherhood in Patch Trading

One of the most common free time activities here at NOAC is patch trading. Walking around NOAC, participants find people engaging in patch trading in just about any open space at almost all hours of the day, be it in the lobby of a residence hall or tucked behind the stairs of a dining facility.

NOAC is one of the prime opportunities for patch collectors, as most lodges produce special issue lodge flaps and council service patches. Colors, shapes, and appearances vary greatly from lodge to lodge, including those that glow in the dark, flash, or don't even appear to contain any text at all. This doesn't even include the limited edition patches issued by NOAC committees to their staff. A recent trend is to have two part patches where the top part is a typical lodge flap covering the pocket flap and the bottom is a pocket cover that complements and completes the the top part when matched.

Many younger Arrowmen find themselves starting to collect patches at NOAC, and most traders are willing to help out younger Arrowmen. A commonly accepted rule is that youth trade patches with youth and adults trade with adults. Patch trading allows for a great fellowship at NOAC because of its opportunity to meet Arrowmen from around the country.

Patch trading also allows an opportunity for the traders to learn about the history of our Order. Since lodges started issuing flaps, there have been patch collections and patch collections tell the story of a lodge generally from its formation.