The Plast Greeting and Motto
“Be prepared” was the greeting and motto of the Scouting Movement founded by Baden-Powell, and has been adopted by many similar organisations all over the world.
Plastuny use this greeting for novatstvo (5-11 year olds) – in Ukrainian: “Hotuis’!”. Yunatstvo (11-18 year olds) greet each other with “SKOB”, which is a translation of osprey, a member of the eagle species (Haliaetus albicilla). The osprey is one of the symbols of Plast.
The word SKOB is also an acronym of four Ukrainian words which are also traits which plastuny should hold.
Sylno (Strongly)
Krasno (Beautifully)
Oberezhno (Carefully)
Bystro (Speedily)
These four plast traits also have symbols: the oak leaf, a branch of kalyna (guelder rose) berries, a fly agaric toadstool and a lighting bolt.
Oak is a strong tree, therefore its leaf has been adopted as a symbol of strength.
Berries of the kalyna have been used to decorate wreaths and hair, kalyna has become a symbol of beauty.
Fly agaric is a poisonous toadstool, which we need to be careful of, hence it has been adopted as a symbol of carefulness.
Lighting bolts represent the speed with which they travel.
In official Plast ceremonies, plastuny greet each other with the word “SKOB” and put their right hand up with the three middle fingers straightened signifying the three main obligations of a plastun.
In everyday life plastuny greet each other by shaking their left hands. This is a symbol of being a member of the Scout movement all over the world and enables plastuny to pause for a moment and think about the fact that the Plast method unites oneself with this other plastun.