Task · part of 3. Earn a total of 21 merit badges
3. The fourteen required merit badges
Required
Fourteen categories set by requirement 3. Where a category offers a choice, earning either badge fills it; the other may still be counted as one of the seven optional badges. The application form has only thirteen numbered slots — see the notice below.
Notes and warnings
Warning. The requirements and the application form disagree, and the requirements win. Eagle rank requirement 3 names FOURTEEN categories, and (d) is Citizenship in Society. The January 2026 revision of the Eagle Scout Rank Application prints THIRTEEN numbered merit badge slots and has no row for it. Both the Star and the Life requirements say "any of the 18 merit badges on the required list for Eagle", which is the same fourteen counted with the alternatives spelled out. Earn Citizenship in Society, and ask your unit leader how your council wants it recorded on the form.
Note. Fourteen categories is not fourteen badges. Categories (i), (j) and (l) each offer a choice — Emergency Preparedness or Lifesaving; Environmental Science or Sustainability; Swimming or Hiking or Cycling — so eighteen badges qualify and you earn one from each category. A second badge from one of those three categories is not wasted: it counts as one of the seven optional badges making up the 21.
What this is made of
- 3.1. Camping
- 3.2. Citizenship in the Community
- 3.3. Citizenship in the Nation
- 3(d). Citizenship in Society
- 3.4. Citizenship in the World
- 3.5. Communication
- 3.6. Cooking
- 3.7. Emergency Preparedness
- 3.7. Lifesaving
- 3.8. Environmental Science
- 3.8. Sustainability
- 3.9. First Aid
- 3.10. Swimming
- 3.10. Hiking
- 3.10. Cycling
- 3.11. Personal Management
- 3.12. Personal Fitness
- 3.13. Family Life
Where this step comes from
- Scouts BSA Rank Requirements (Requirements sheets dated 2025-12), Eagle Scout rank requirement 3, categories (a) to (n) · Fourteen categories; (i), (j) and (l) each offer a choice, so eighteen badges qualify.
- Scouts BSA Rank Requirements (Requirements sheets dated 2025-12), Star rank requirement 3 and Life rank requirement 3 · Both say "any of the 18 merit badges on the required list for Eagle", which is the same count arrived at from the other direction.
- Eagle Scout Rank Application (January 2026 Revision), Requirement 3, badges 1-13 · The form's thirteen numbered slots, which do not include Citizenship in Society.