Vær beredt — Til fordel for spejderlejrene

Scouting reached Denmark in 1909. Within a decade Det Danske Spejderkorps (DDS) was large enough to join the founding of the Boy Scouts’ International Conference in 1920 — the body that became today’s World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). Denmark has been a continuous member ever since.

In that same year Danish scouts issued these fundraising labels (plakatmærker / mærkater). They are not postage stamps and have no franking value. They were sold «til fordel for spejderlejrene» — for the benefit of the scout camps — so that troops could keep running summer camps and outdoor programmes. The design carries the scout motto Vær beredt (“Be prepared”) on a flying ribbon, a fleur-de-lis, a camp scene with tent and the Dannebrog, active scouts in the field, and a boy scout in campaign hat giving the scout salute in the foreground.

The set is known in at least two monochrome colour printings of the same design: blue and red (carmine). Catalogues list them under the English series title “Scout Camps Charity.” Four years later Denmark hosted the 2nd World Scout Jamboree at Ermelunden near Copenhagen (August 1924) — the first world jamboree held outside England — underlining how central camping and international gathering had already become to Danish scouting.