Zwei Elemente zeichnen das Pfadfindertum aus: Das Pfadfindergesetz als Lebensregel und das Versprechen als Bindung an ein Lebensideal. Das Gesetz gibt uns Pfadfindern dabei in einfachen Worten eine Weise vor, in der wir uns dem Leben stellen wollen.

In der Konstitution der Weltpfadfinderbewegung (WOSM) heißt es zum Pfadfindergesetz („Scout Law“): „Alle Mitglieder der Pfadfinderbewegung sollen dem Pfadfinderversprechen und -gesetz anhängen; beide sollen – in der der Kultur und Zivilisation jeder nationalen Pfadfinderorganisation eigenen und in der von der Weltorganisation bestätigten Formulierung – bezogen sein auf die Prinzipien der Verpflichtung gegenüber Gott, dem anderen und sich selbst.“

In der dpsg formuliern wir seit einer Mitgliederbefragung im Jahr 2005 unser Gesetz in acht Punkten:

   

Als Pfadfinderin…
Als Pfadfinder …

• …begegne ich allen Menschen mit Respekt  und habe alle Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen als Geschwister.
• …gehe ich zuversichtlich  und mit wachen Augen durch die Welt.
• …bin ich höflich und helfe  da, wo es notwendig ist.
• …mache ich nichts halb  und gebe auch in Schwierigkeiten nicht auf.
• …entwickle ich eine eigene Meinung  und stehe für diese ein.
• …sage  ich, was ich denke, und tue, was ich sage.
• …lebe ich einfach und umweltbewusst .
• …stehe ich zu meiner Herkunft und zu meinem Glauben .

 

Das historische Pfadfindergesetz
Ursprünglich bestand es aus zehn Punkten deren Ausformulierung auf Lord Robert Baden-Powell selbst zurückgeht. In seinem Buch „Young Knights of the Empire“ (1916) formuliert und umschreibt er dieses Gesetz folgendermaßen:

1. A Scout’s honour is to be trusted.
   „If a Scout says ‚On my honour it is so,‘ that means it is so, just as if he had taken a most solemn oath. Similarly if a Scout officer says to a Scout, ‚I trust you on your honour to do this,‘ the Scout is bound to carry out the order to the very best of his ability, and to let nothing interfere with his doing so. If a Scout were to break his honour by telling a lie, or by not carrying out an order exactly when trusted on his honour to do so, he may be directed to hand over his Scout badge and never wear it again. He may also be directed to cease to be a Scout.“
2. A Scout is loyal
   „to the King, and to his officers, and to his parents, his Country, his employers, and to those under his orders. He must stick to them through thick and thin against anyone who is their enemy or who even talks badly of them.“
3. A Scout’s duty is to be useful and to help others.
   „And he is to do his duty before anything else, even though he gives up his own pleasure or comfort or safety to do it. When in difficulty to know which of two things to do, he must ask himself, ‚Which is my duty?‘ that is, ‚Which is best for other people?‘ – and do that one. He must Be Prepared at any time to save life or to help injured persons. And must try his best to do a good turn to somebody every day.“
4. A Scout is a Friend to all
   „and a Brother to every other Scout, no matter to what social class the other belongs. If a Scout meets another Scout, even though a stranger to him, he must speak to him and help him in any way that he can, either to carry out the duty he is then doing, or by giving him food, or, so far as possible, anything that he may be in want of. A Scout must never be a snob. A snob is one who looks down upon another because he’s poorer, or who is poor and resents another because he is rich. A Scout accepts the other man as he finds him and makes the best of him – ‚Kim,‘ the boy scout, was called by the Indians ‚Little friend of all the world,‘ and that is the name which every Scout should earn for himself.“
5. A Scout is courteous.
   „A Scout should be polite to all – but especially to women and children, old people and invalids, cripples, etc. And he must not take any reward for being helpful or courteous.“
6. A Scout is a Friend to animals.
   „He should save them, so far as possible, from pain, and should not kill any animal unnecessarily, even if it is only a fly, for it is one of God’s creatures. Killing an animal for food, or an animal which is harmful, is allowable.“
7. A Scout obeys orders
   „of his parents, Patrol-leader, or Scoutmaster without question. Even if he gets an order which he does not like, a Scout must do as soldiers and sailors do, or as he would do if he got it from his captain in a football match – he must carry it out all the same, because it is his duty; after he has done it he can come and state any reasons against it: but he must carry out the order at once. That is discipline.“
8. A Scout smiles and whistles under all difficulties.
   „When he gets an order, he should obey it cheerily and readily, not in a slow, hang-dog sort of way.“
9. A Scout is thrifty.
   „It is expected that a Scout will save every penny he can, and put it in the bank, so that he may have money to keep himself when out of work, and thus not make himself a burden to others; or that he may have money to give away to others when they need it.“
10. A Scout is clean in thought, word and deed.
    „Decent Scouts look down upon silly youths who talk dirt, and they do not let themselves give way to temptation, either to talk it or to do anything dirty. A Scout is pure, and clean-minded, and manly.“

Ein elftes, ungeschriebenes Gesetz
Lord Robert Baden-Powell merkte 1922 in seinem Buch „Rovering to Success“ zum Thema Pfadfindergesetz noch ganz kurz und lebensnah folgendes an:

• „Es gibt ein 11., ungeschriebenes Pfadfindergesetz, nämlich: ‚Ein Pfadfinder ist kein Narr‘.“