Hong Kong had similar progressive and proficiency badges as those of the United Kingdom  and the British Commonwealth until 1977, when the Hong Kong Scout Association became an independent member of WOSM.  Since then, it gradually developed its own award system, but continue to keep features and heritages that are distinctly British.

The so-called "Pre-APR" Scout badges refer specifically to badges that were in circulation in and before 1967, when the "Advanced Party Report" (hence the acronym "APR") in the UK recommended sweeping changes to both the uniforms and the badges for Scouts in the UK and the Commonwealth.  (Hong Kong, being a British colony then,  enforced most of the recommendations of the Report by around 1969.)  The pre-APR Scout badges went through many revisions and improvements themselves.  Scout proficiency badges, for example, went from the felt badges with no words introduced in 1909, to felt badges with words in 1927, then ribbon badges in 1933, printed badges during the war years (1939-1945), and the final bounded woven badges which were used just before the war (1935-1939), and after (1945-67), until they were replaced by the post-APR badges of the late 1960s.  However, the basic designs of the badges remain unchanged, and all these badges could be viewed as one system, with only minor fixes over time.  This page attempts to give a brief introduction to some of the more important badges from this "old" system.

Pre-APR Progressive Badges

Basically, the pre-APR progressive badges came in four classes, the so-called Tenderfoot Badge, the Second Class Badge, the First Class Badge, and the highest honour, the King's Scout or the Queen's Scout Badge.

Tenderfoot	First Class	King's /Queen's Scout
Second Class

Pre-APR Proficiency Badges

Pre-APR proficiency badges in the Scout section were consistently round in shape, while the Cub Scout proficiency badges were triangular, and the Senior Scout proficiency badges were square. 

Below are some pre-APR proficiency badges for the Scout, Senior Scout and the Cub Scout sections.  While they may appear to have simple designs, there are many older Scouts around the world who love these old badges, and would be willing to pay dearly for some of the rarer ones.

Earliest Scout, felt with no words(1909-1927):
Artist	Oarsman	Cook	Cyclist/Messenger
Second generation Scout, felt with "BOY SCOUTS"(1927-1933):
Athlete	Engineer	Guide	Healthyman
Pre- and Post-War Scout, woven, bound, and backed(1935-39, 1945-67):
Camper	Debatort	Marksman	Electrician
Last type Senior Scout, woven, bound, with "SENIOR SCOUTS"(1963-67):
Fireman	Musician	Senior Pioneer	Camp Warden
Last type Cub Scout, woven, bound, and backed(1935-39, 1945-67):
First-Aider	Athlete	Bookreader	Collector

Pre-APR Interpreter Strips

There are, of course, many other pre-APR badges.  One of my favorites is the series of interpreter strips.  Many young Scouts of the old days were very proud of being able to wear the "Speaks English" strip.  These are simple badges with only the language spoken embroidered on them.  Yet, they seemed to signify the global nature of the Movement, and also the love of international communication and exchanges of all Scouts.  In fact, some leaders feel that perhaps this series should be re-introduced, to encourage young people to learn to speak other languages/dialects.  Three of these strips are shown below.