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The President of the Republic presented Scoutsbattalion with a flag29.03.2004
 President Arnold Rüütel today attended a ceremony at Paldiski where he presented a flag to the Scoutsbattalion. Today it is three years since the Scoutsbattalion was re-established.
The President of the Republic in his speech on the occasion highlighted the battalion's role in preparing military personnel for peacekeeping operations and training highly motivated professional servicemen.
"On the third anniversary of the re-establishment of the Scoutsbattalion, one of the Estonian foreign policy priorities, to join NATO, is on the point to come true. Our membership in NATO will give us a new security guarantee but, at the same time, Estonia as one of the Members of the Alliance must be an equal partner for its allies. And in this respect, the Scoutsbattalion has a very important role," President Rüütel said.
The flag was donated to the Scoutsbattalion by the Estonian Scout Association. At the ceremony, Chief Chaplain of the Defence Forces Colonel Tõnis Nõmmik consecrated the flag and Minister of Defence Margus Hanson read the Certificate of Flag Donation.
During the War of Liberation, the Estonian scouts had donated a unit flag to the predecessor of the Scoutsbattalion - the Scoutsregiment. On the one side of the flag, the Patron Saint of Scouting, St. George, was depicted on a white horse, killing a dragon, and in designing the tip of the flagstaff, the symbol of scouting, a lily, had been used. Since the re-established Scoutsbattalion had no flag, the Estonian Scout Association donated the unit a new flag, which is similar to the historical flag of the Scoutsregiment.
Public Relations Unit of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, March 29, 2004
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