GDO2go - PDA Edition

home : programs : meritbars :

Merit Bars

Printable Version of this Page

Merit Bars primarily are awards that recognize DeMolays for achievement in some phase of Chapter activity. Religion and scholastics are two exceptions. Merit Bars are awarded to individual members on the recommendation of the Awards Advisor. The Advisory Council makes the final decision about whether an individual has met the requirements for each bar.

Each Merit Bar is produced in five colors. Each color designates the number of times a DeMolay has received a bar in that category. The color designations are:

1st Award- White
2nd Award- Red
3rd Award- Blue
4th Award- Purple
5th Award- Gold

Each time a DeMolay achieves the next award in a category, he turns in his present bar and receives the next higher award (the next color). As a result, at no time should he wear more than 18 bars.

Most Chapters have a "Merit Bar Bank" administered by the Awards Advisor. The bank is a depository for merit bars turned in by older members as they progress to different colored bars. For example, a member who earns a red athletics bar would turn in the white one. The white one, in turn, would be presented to a Chapter member earning his first athletics award. New Merit Bars must be purchased from the DeMolay and More Store.

It is best to present the Merit Bars to the awardees at a ceremony. The names of the recipients also should be published in the local and/or Chapter newspaper.

Printable Merit Bar Record (includes requirements for earning each of the Merit Bars)

There are documents in Portable Document Format available for download on this page. Files with the PDF extension require the Adobe Acrobat Reader to be viewed, available for free from Adobe. If you have difficulty viewing or downloading these files, please contact us.