Aviation Merit Badge History

Earned through 2020684,527

Best year201121,440 earned

All-time popularity#54official, as of 2020#52by 2025 (estimate)

Earned by Year

First earned in 1912. Peak year 2011 with 21,440. Hover over or tap a year for its numbers.

19110 earned

19124 earned#46 of 51

19139 earned#47 of 56

191416 earned#51 of 58

191512 earned#52 of 58

191618 earned#49 of 56

191723 earned#51 of 58

191838 earned#50 of 58

1919103 earned#49 of 59

192089 earned#49 of 59

1921175 earned#52 of 61

1922149 earned#56 of 61

1923154 earned#56 of 63

1924164 earned#57 of 64

1925167 earned#57 of 64

1926321 earned#56 of 65

1927551 earned#60 of 68

19282,548 earned#46 of 88

19291,294 earned#57 of 89

19301,679 earned#55 of 92

19311,482 earned#63 of 96

19321,062 earned#67 of 98

19331,047 earned#72 of 101

1934905 earned#70 of 101

19351,021 earned#75 of 101

1936968 earned#68 of 101

1937943 earned#75 of 102

19381,237 earned#68 of 105

19391,574 earned#62 of 106

19401,791 earned#59 of 106

19412,299 earned#53 of 106

1942715 earned#78 of 110

1943189 earned#105 of 112

1944No data available

1945No data available

1946No data available

1947No data available

1948No data available

1949No data available

1950No data available

1951No data available

1952363 earned#114 of 120

19532,024 earned#65 of 105

19542,479 earned#62 of 103

19552,642 earned#63 of 100

19563,090 earned#62 of 100

19573,905 earned#54 of 100

19583,991 earned#55 of 101

19593,730 earned#61 of 101

19604,057 earned#60 of 100

19614,973 earned#55 of 101

19623,290 earned#67 of 101

19633,250 earned#68 of 102

19643,054 earned#68 of 107

19652,930 earned#68 of 109

19663,996 earned#61 of 110

19674,473 earned#58 of 112

19684,941 earned#58 of 112

19694,833 earned#59 of 113

19704,682 earned#60 of 113

19715,196 earned#58 of 113

19724,831 earned#68 of 124

19737,814 earned#57 of 122

19747,294 earned#68 of 121

19757,567 earned#69 of 128

19766,901 earned#69 of 130

19776,705 earned#64 of 130

19786,430 earned#63 of 131

19794,790 earned#63 of 132

19803,136 earned#64 of 132

19815,057 earned#63 of 134

1982No data available

1983No data available

1984No data available

1985No data available

1986No data available

1987No data available

1988No data available

1989No data available

1990No data available

1991No data available

1992No data available

199315,488 earned#35 of 123

1994No data available

1995No data available

199614,365 earned#42 of 134

1997No data available

1998No data available

1999No data available

200017,257 earned#37 of 128

200118,297 earned#34 of 129

200219,638 earned#34 of 129

200319,986 earned#33 of 130

200417,859 earned#36 of 121

200517,641 earned#34 of 121

200618,624 earned#33 of 121

200716,483 earned#35 of 121

200817,219 earned#34 of 121

200920,787 earned#32 of 122

201021,173 earned#31 of 125

201121,440 earned#28 of 129

201220,751 earned#30 of 132

201318,330 earned#25 of 129

201417,522 earned#35 of 136

201515,170 earned#38 of 138

201614,477 earned#37 of 138

201714,347 earned#35 of 139

201813,745 earned#39 of 139

201914,227 earned#33 of 139

20208,064 earned#33 of 137

Known count No data available

"—" means merit badges were earned that year but the exact number is not currently known. "#33 of 137" means the badge was number 33 of the 137 merit badges earned that year. The grand total comes from official reports and includes the years without a known count. The 2025 all-time place is an estimate, because the counts for 2021 to 2025 are worked out from each year's official ranking and the total number of merit badges earned that year.

19110none earned

19124#46 of 51

19139#47 of 56

191416#51 of 58

191512#52 of 58

191618#49 of 56

191723#51 of 58

191838#50 of 58

1919103#49 of 59

192089#49 of 59

1921175#52 of 61

1922149#56 of 61

1923154#56 of 63

1924164#57 of 64

1925167#57 of 64

1926321#56 of 65

1927551#60 of 68

19282,548#46 of 88

19291,294#57 of 89

19301,679#55 of 92

19311,482#63 of 96

19321,062#67 of 98

19331,047#72 of 101

1934905#70 of 101

19351,021#75 of 101

1936968#68 of 101

1937943#75 of 102

19381,237#68 of 105

19391,574#62 of 106

19401,791#59 of 106

19412,299#53 of 106

1942715#78 of 110

1943189#105 of 112

1944—

1945—

1946—

1947—

1948—

1949—

1950—

1951—

1952363#114 of 120

19532,024#65 of 105

19542,479#62 of 103

19552,642#63 of 100

19563,090#62 of 100

19573,905#54 of 100

19583,991#55 of 101

19593,730#61 of 101

19604,057#60 of 100

19614,973#55 of 101

19623,290#67 of 101

19633,250#68 of 102

19643,054#68 of 107

19652,930#68 of 109

19663,996#61 of 110

19674,473#58 of 112

19684,941#58 of 112

19694,833#59 of 113

19704,682#60 of 113

19715,196#58 of 113

19724,831#68 of 124

19737,814#57 of 122

19747,294#68 of 121

19757,567#69 of 128

19766,901#69 of 130

19776,705#64 of 130

19786,430#63 of 131

19794,790#63 of 132

19803,136#64 of 132

19815,057#63 of 134

1982—

1983—

1984—

1985—

1986—

1987—

1988—

1989—

1990—

1991—

1992—

199315,488#35 of 123

1994—

1995—

199614,365#42 of 134

1997—

1998—

1999—

200017,257#37 of 128

200118,297#34 of 129

200219,638#34 of 129

200319,986#33 of 130

200417,859#36 of 121

200517,641#34 of 121

200618,624#33 of 121

200716,483#35 of 121

200817,219#34 of 121

200920,787#32 of 122

201021,173#31 of 125

201121,440#28 of 129

201220,751#30 of 132

201318,330#25 of 129

201417,522#35 of 136

201515,170#38 of 138

201614,477#37 of 138

201714,347#35 of 139

201813,745#39 of 139

201914,227#33 of 139

20208,064#33 of 137

Grand total through 2020:

This page keeps growing. More of this badge's history, including its patches and pamphlets, is being checked and will be added once it is confirmed.

Aviation: workbook data

Printings (95)

Have	Year	Month	Cover	Back	Run	©	BSA #	UPC	SKU	SA #	HC	Notes
c	1920		1C				3306					HB 20th Edition reference
c	1920		2				3306					20c Wireless
	1921	not made
	1922	not made
c	1923		2				3306					20c Radio
c	1924		2				3306
c	1925		3A	back-3			3306
c	1926		3A	back-3			3306
x	1927		3A	back-3			3306
x	1928		3B	back-3			3306
c	1929		3B	back-3			3306
c	1930	January	3B	back-3			3306
x	1930	February	3B	back-3			3306
	1930	March	3B	back-3			3306
x	1930	September	3B	back-3			3306
	1930	December	3B	back-3		1930	3306
x	1931	June	3B	back-3		1930	3306
	1932	not made
c	1933	August	3B	back-3	1M	1930	3306
x	1934	June	3B	back-3	1M	1930	3306
c	1935		3B	back-3		1930	3306
x	1936	February	3C	back-3	2M	1930	3306
x	1937	May	3B	back-3	2M	1930	3306
x	1938	October	3B	back-3	1M		3306
c	1939	April	3D	back-3	2M		3306
x	1939	April	3D	back-3	2M		3306					with effective January 1, 1940 requirments pasted
x	1940	December	4	back-4	2M		3306
x	1941	July	4	back-4	2M		3306
x	1942	March	4	back-4	2M		3306
	1943	not made
	1944	not made
	1945	not made
	1946	not made
	1947	not made
	1948	not made
	1949	not made
	1950	not made
	1951	not made
	1952	not made
	1953	not made
x	1954	January	6A	back-6b-2	5M		3293
x	1954	April	6A	back-6b-2	5M		3293
x	1954	December	6A	back-6b-2	5M	1954	3293				HCJV1
x	1955	July	6A	back-6b-2	10M	1954	3293
x	1956	November	6A	back-6b-2	8M	1954	3293
x	1957	June	6A	back-6b-2	10M	1954	3293				HCJV1
x	1958	July	6A	back-6c-2	10M	1954	3293
x	1959	July	6A	back-6c-2	10M	1954	3293
x	1960	August	6A	back-6d	10M	1954	3293
x	1961	December	6A	back-6e	9M	1954	3293
	1962	not made
x	1963	March	6B	back-6f	9M	1954	3293				HCP
x	1964	March	6B	back-6g	8M	1954	3293				HCK
x	1965	April	6B	back-6h	8M	1954	3293				HCK
x	1966	June	7A	back-7	8M	1954	3293				HCL
x	1967	March	7A	back-7	9M	1954	3293				HCL
x	1968	February	7A	back-7	11M	1968	3293				HCL
x	1969	January	7B	back-7	10M	1968	3293
x	1969	August	7B	back-7	14M	1968	3293				HCL, HCM
x	1970	December	7B	back-7	12M	1968	3293
	1971	not made
x	1972	March	7B	back-7	10M	1968	3293
x	1973	June	8	back-8a	10M	1968	3293				HCSV2
x	1974	February	8	back-8a	12M	1968	3293
x	1975	May	8	back-8b	9M	1968	3293
x	1976	July	8	back-8c-1	8M	1968	3293
x	1977	July	8	back-8d	7.5M	1968	3293
x	1978	August	8	back-8d	7M	1968	3293
x	1979	October	9A	back-9a	7M	1968	3293
	1980	not made
x	1981	February	9A	back-9a	5.5M	1968	3293
x	1982	January	9A	back-9a	5.5M	1968	3293
c	1983	January	9A	back-9a	2.5M	1968	3293
x	1984	January	9A	back-9a	7M	1968	3293
x	1985	January	9A	back-9b-2	6M	1968	3293
x	1986	January	9A	back-9b-2	6M	1968	3293
x	1986	October	9A	back-9b-2	6M	1968	3293
x	1987	September	9A	back-9b-2	6M	1968	3293
x	1988	June	9A	back-9b-2	10M	1968	3293
x	1989	April	9A	back-9b-2	7M	1968	3293
x	1990	January	9A	back-9b-2	8.5M	1968	3293
x	1991	March	9A	back-9c-1	9M	1968	3293
x	1992	April	9A	back-9c-2	9M	1968	33293	730176332932
x	1993	May	9A	back-9c-2	8.5M		33293	730176332932
x	1994	April	9A	back-9d	9M		33293	730176332932
x	1995	June	9A	back-9d	8.5M		33293	730176332932
x	1996	September	9A	back-9d	8.5M		33293	730176332932
x	1997	September	9A	back-9d			33293	730176332932
x	1998		9A	back-9f			33293	730176332932
x	1999		9A	back-9f			33293	730176332932
x	2000		9B	back-9f		2000	33293A	730176332932
x	2001		9B	back-9f		2000	33293A	730176332932
x	2002		9B	back-9f		2000	33293A	730176332932
x	2003		9B	back-9g		2000	33293A	730176332932
x	2004		9B	back-9g		2000	33293A	730176332932
x	2005		9B	back-9g			33293A	730176332932
x	2006		9C	back-9g		2006	33293B	730176324500
x	2007		9C	back-9h-2		2006	33293B	730176324500
x	2008		10A	back-1008b1			35862	730176358628
x	2009		10B	back-1009b1			35862	730176358628
x	2010		10C-1A	back-1010b1			35862	730176358628
x	2011		10C-1A	back-1010b1			35862	730176358628
x	2012		10C-1B	back-1010b1			35862	730176358628
	2013	not made
x	2014		10C-2	back-1013b1			619565	730176357621				01268-AL
	2015	not made
x	2016		10D	back-1016b1			619565	730176357621				01042-AL
x	2017		10D	back-1016b1			619565	730176357621				00432
	2018	not made
x	2019		10D	back-1019b1			650727	730176350578				358
	2020	not made
	2021	not made
x	2022		10D	back-1019b1			656906	7301766569064				358
x	2023		10D	back-1019b1			656906	7301766569064				358
x	2024		10D	back-1019b1		2022	35862	7301766569064	656906			358
x	2024		10D	back-1019b1		2024	35862	7301766610445	661044			00358n
	2025	not made
x	2026		11A	back-1125		2026	35862	7301766610445	661044	300108766		00358n

Earned and rank by year

Year	Earned	Rank	Of
1911	0
1912	4	46	51
1913	9	47	56
1914	16	51	58
1915	12	52	58
1916	18	49	56
1917	23	51	58
1918	38	50	58
1919	103	49	59
1920	89	49	59
1921	175	52	61
1922	149	56	61
1923	154	56	63
1924	164	57	64
1925	167	57	64
1926	321	56	65
1927	551	60	68
1928	2,548	46	88
1929	1,294	57	89
1930	1,679	55	92
1931	1,482	63	96
1932	1,062	67	98
1933	1,047	72	101
1934	905	70	101
1935	1,021	75	101
1936	968	68	101
1937	943	75	102
1938	1,237	68	105
1939	1,574	62	106
1940	1,791	59	106
1941	2,299	53	106
1942	715	78	110
1943	189	105	112
1944
1945
1946
1947
1948
1949
1950
1951
1952	363	114	120
1953	2,024	65	105
1954	2,479	62	103
1955	2,642	63	100
1956	3,090	62	100
1957	3,905	54	100
1958	3,991	55	101
1959	3,730	61	101
1960	4,057	60	100
1961	4,973	55	101
1962	3,290	67	101
1963	3,250	68	102
1964	3,054	68	107
1965	2,930	68	109
1966	3,996	61	110
1967	4,473	58	112
1968	4,941	58	112
1969	4,833	59	113
1970	4,682	60	113
1971	5,196	58	113
1972	4,831	68	124
1973	7,814	57	122
1974	7,294	68	121
1975	7,567	69	128
1976	6,901	69	130
1977	6,705	64	130
1978	6,430	63	131
1979	4,790	63	132
1980	3,136	64	132
1981	5,057	63	134
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993	15,488	35	123
1994
1995
1996	14,365	42	134
1997
1998
1999
2000	17,257	37	128
2001	18,297	34	129
2002	19,638	34	129
2003	19,986	33	130
2004	17,859	36	121
2005	17,641	34	121
2006	18,624	33	121
2007	16,483	35	121
2008	17,219	34	121
2009	20,787	32	122
2010	21,173	31	125
2011	21,440	28	129
2012	20,751	30	132
2013	18,330	25	129
2014	17,522	35	136
2015	15,170	38	138
2016	14,477	37	138
2017	14,347	35	139
2018	13,745	39	139
2019	14,227	33	139
2020	8,064	33	137