How to do a Promise ceremony

This is apparently a question new leaders have, especially if they’re walking into a unit that doesn’t already have a leader to show them the ropes. I love Promise ceremonies, it’s such a special moment.

The important bits are that the person making their Promise does so and that they get the badge. Everything else is pretty much up to the unit and indeed, to the person. I’ve had Rangers make their Promise on the high ropes, outside in a thunderstorm, in the meeting room while covered in finger paint, in a cave… the list goes on.

Discuss it with the Promise-ee

Most of my Brownie Promises get made in the meeting hall following our unit’s particular little ritual ceremony just because it’s easier. But you don’t have to do it that way. Ask the person making their Promise – would you like to do it in the meeting? Would you like to do it at an event? Would you like to do it in front of the unit or the district or just on your own with the leader? This is supposed to be a special moment so let the person making their Promise decide what special way they want to do it.

They don’t have to be in uniform

We encourage them to come to meetings in uniform because we’re a uniformed organisation. But accidents happen, parents having a busy week don’t put the uniform in the wash after a messy meeting in time for it to be ready to wear the next week, the dog was sick on it an hour before the meeting started, it got lost because someone put it in the wrong drawer – I wouldn’t refuse to let the Promise ceremony go ahead just because someone had unexpectedly not turned up in uniform.

And a lot of the event ones, it’s not appropriate for them to be in uniform. The Ranger who made her Promise in a cave, she wasn’t wearing uniform. The ones who did it in a thunderstorm – I can’t remember; they were certainly wearing big coats but there may have been uniform underneath. The Big Gig, that’s a great place for it and that’s an explicitly non-uniform event, as are the large-scale camps. I think I did three Rangers at Sparkle & Ice once. So no, they don’t have to be in uniform.

Who performs the ceremony?

Any adult member who’s made her own Promise can be the officiant. Usually it’s the main unit leader but it can be any of the leaders or it can be anyone the Promise-ee is comfortable with. Your mate who bullied you into this who runs Thursday Brownies and keeps an eye on you. Your local commissioner. Your mum, who’s been a pillar of the county team since before you were born. Any other Inspire or Trefoil member.

What do you say?

The only words necessary are that the Promise-ee says the Promise and that the badge is given.

I say what was in my Brownie handbook when I was a Brownie myself. I give them an older, more experienced girl, to bring them to me and say “This is Flossie and she’d like to be a member of X Town Brownies”.

If she was a Rainbow (or if you’re doing an older girl, use whatever previous section she’s been a member of), I’ll say “You’ve already made your Promise as a Rainbow. Are you now ready to renew it as a Brownie?”.

She’ll say yes, or more usually do an embarrassed giggle, and then I’ll whisper “go on then”.

Everyone salutes who’s already made their own Promise at this point – right hand at shoulder height, three fingers straight, hold your little finger down with your thumb, and the Promise-ee whispers her Promise to me. I’d love it if she proudly declaimed it in a big confident voice but the reality is nine times out of ten it’s an embarrassed whisper.

Then I say “Well done! Welcome to X Town Brownies! Here’s your Promise badge to show you’ve made your Promise, here’s your Six badge to show you’re a member of the [Whatever] Six, this is your name tape to show you’re a member of X Town Brownies and this is your county badge to show you’re a member of Y County”.

And that’s it. But especially if they’re doing it under adventurous circumstances, you can cut it right down to “READY??!!” before the girl yells her Promise to you – I’m thinking explicitly of the one forty feet above my head on the high ropes here.

Do I pin the badge on them?

I would ask. The older girls particularly don’t enjoy an adult fiddling around with their clothes, obviously, so I don’t even ask, I just hand it to them. The Brownies don’t always mind and it’s a lot less awkward if they’re wearing a sash or even a jumper than if you’re pinning it on a t-shirt. So before the ceremony begins, I always ask “Do you want me to hand the badge to you or pin it to your jumper?” and then they can make that decision themselves. If you’re feeling uncomfortable about it, it’s always ok to just hand it to them.

How does a ceremony go?

I’ll tell you two.

When I was a Brownie myself

Everyone made a big circle except two gatekeepers for the Promise and two for the Law, the Brownie making her Promise and her “guide”. The guide would lead the new Brownie around the circle until they reached the first gate, where one of the gatekeepers would shout “Stop! You cannot pass unless you know the Brownie motto!”. The Promise-ee would tell them the motto (“Lend a Hand”) and they’d let her pass between the two chairs that work as a gate. Repeat with the Law when they get to the second gate. Then you go into the circle and are taken to “the pond”, which is a mirror with paper flowers stuck around the edge laid on the floor next to our unit’s toadstool. Her guide spins her around three times while everyone sings “Twist me and turn me and show me the elf, I looked in the water and there saw…” and the Promise-ee looks in the mirror and completes the rhyme with “myself”.

The guide then brings the Promise-ee to Brown Owl, introduces her and takes her place in the circle. Brown Owl asks the Promise-ee if she’s ready to make (or renew) her Promise and she does so, and is then given her badges.

My current unit

It’s a very similar ceremony except that instead of everyone standing in a circle, everyone joins hands to become the forest. The guide leads her Promise-ee in and out of the trees while everyone sings “Twist me and turn me and show me the elf, I looked in the water and there saw…. ooohhh…. twist me and turn me and show me the elf…” and so on until she reaches the gates. Why we keep up the motto, I don’t know. The motto ceased to be official long ago. Oh, our gates are different! They’re still two girls but they hold their arms up to form an arch and then bring them down to trap the Promise-ee until she’s answered the question.

Once she’s out of the trees and past the gates, it’s the same little ritual by the mirror and with Brown Owl.

I have no idea how other units do it. If your unit has a different ritual, then it has a different ritual. I know it tends to get less ceremonial as you get older – I don’t think the local Guides have any ritual whatsoever beyond the words and my Rangers definitely never have. And of course, if you’re doing it at an event or an activity, it’s just not practical to include the little ceremony.

What if they don’t know their Promise?

I encourage my girls to learn it in advance – how can you make a Promise if you don’t know what you’re Promising? But in this day and age, “learn a five line Promise” is a big ask and even those who’ve gone to the trouble of learning it often forget it in the heat of the moment. It’s ok to hold up a printout or the certificate so they can read it out. I’ve tried “call and response” but it’s such an awkward line length that it doesn’t really work.

What are the Promise, Law and motto?

The Promise, as made by everyone from Brownies upwards, is:

I promise to do my best to be true to myself and develop my beliefs
To serve the Queen and my community
To help other people
And to keep the (Brownie) Guide Law.

Rainbows have a shorter version: I promise that I will do my best to think about my beliefs and to be kind and helpful.

The Brownie Law is: A Brownie Guide thinks of others before herself and does a good turn every day.

The Brownie motto, now defunct, is: Lend a Hand.

The Guide Law is actually six laws and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a Guide or an adult in the country who knows them all. I don’t. It was ten when I made my Promise as a Guide and I have no idea when it changed.

Guides don’t exactly have a motto – I can’t remember if they had it when I was there or if it’s been an unofficial thing for decades – but if they did, it’s Be Prepared.

Do the parents come?

Yes, you can invite the parents. They’ve not been allowed to attend in the last couple of years because of the pandemic and our Brownie hall, which is also the local nursery, doesn’t allow parents past the door but if we held it at the big field or out at my favourite campsite, they absolutely could come and watch. It depends what the rules are about visitors where you meet.

I don’t think there’s anything relevant now, but when I was a Brownie, a Promise ceremony was an excuse for the older girls to earn their Hostess badge – you had to write a nice letter and decorate it to invite the parents and then write the address on the envelope. Then you had to make a decoration and some refreshments and look after the parents when they arrive. It’s not just “make an old person a cup of tea”, it’s welcoming them to an event and looking after them. That badge doesn’t exist anymore and neither is there any equivalent but it’s still nice to make a proper invitation if you’ve got a Promise ceremony coming up.

What about adults?

Same as the kids. Same as the Young Leaders, come to that. How do they want to do it? Where do they want to do it? Who do they want to do it in front of?

Sometimes they want to do the same ritual ceremony as the girls. Sometimes they want to do it quietly with the other leader after the girls have gone home. Sometimes they want it to be exciting. I love doing it with a new adult. Check whether they have any history in Guiding so you can say “You’ve already made your Promise as a Guide. Are you now ready to renew it as an adult/leader?” The only difference is that leaders tend to only be presented with a Promise badge. I’d try to get them a metal county badge and if they’re into badges, a unit name tape for their camp blanket but they don’t get a Six/Patrol badge and 95% of leaders won’t have the name tape either.

That’s about all there is to it. Say the Promise to an existing adult member, hand over the badge. Make it as elaborate or exciting or as small as the Promise-ee wants.