The Associação Guias de Portugal (AGP; roughly ''Guide Association of Portugal'') is the national Guiding association of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

. Guiding in Portugal started in 1919 and became a member of the

World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS ) is a global association that supports Girl Guides, female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 153 countries. It was established in the year 1928 in Parád, H ...

(WAGGGS) in 1963. The girls-only organization has 3,291 members (as of 2003). Its headquarters are located in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

History

The first Guide group in Portugal was formed in 1911 in

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

, being an overseas group of The Guide Association (UK). This group – and the British Guides on

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

– supported the development of Portuguese Guide groups in 1919. In 1930, the AGP was formed; it was officially recognized by the government in 1934, but had to suspend all activities in 1938 due to political unrest. Only the Madeira region could continue its work; it helped the organization to resume activities in 1952. The AGP became an associate member of WAGGGS in 1963 and a full member in 1975.

Program and ideals

The association's aims are the formation and the development of girls and young women through the

Scout method The Scout method is the informal educational system used in the Scout Movement with some variations among different Scout organizations. Scout training is character development to help Scouts become independent and helpful, and thereby become ...

by four main principles: life in the patrol, life in the outdoors, commitment to the community and progressive programs. The membership badge of Associação Guias de Portugal shows a

trefoil A trefoil () is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings, used in architecture, Pagan and Christian symbolism, among other areas. The term is also applied to other symbols with a threefold shape. A similar shape with f ...

superimposed with an elongate

cross fleury A cross fleury (or flory) is a cross adorned at the ends with flowers in heraldry. It generally contains the fleur-de-lis, trefoils, etc. Synonyms or minor variants include ''fleuretty'', ''fleuronny'', ''floriated'' and ''flourished''. In early ...

, the ends having a shape like a

fleur-de-lys The ''fleur-de-lis'', also spelled ''fleur-de-lys'' (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a common heraldic charge in the (stylized) shape of a lily (in French, and mean and respectively). Most notably, the ''fleur-de-lis'' ...

. The association is divided in four age-groups: * Avezinha - Little Bird (ages 6 to 10) * Guia Aventura - Adventure Guide (ages 10 to 14) * Guia Caravela - Caravelle Guide (ages 14 to 17) * Guia Moínho - Windmill Guide (ages 17 to 21)

References

* World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, World Bureau (1997), ''Trefoil Round the World''. Eleventh Edition 1997. {{DEFAULTSORT:Associacao Guias de Portugal World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts member organizations Scouting and Guiding in Portugal Youth organizations established in 1930

History

Program and ideals

See also

References