The 2025 Girl Scout cookie season kicks off in January.
The new Pandas at the National Zoo in Washington also go on view in January.
What do these events have in common? Panda Cookies!
How Are Girl Scout Cookie Mascots Selected?
By the girls, of course!
Girls Scouts of all ages can vote for the annual cookie sale mascot, and in 2023 they picked Panda bears. In 2024, the girls gave feedback about which panda-themed prizes were the most appealing.
Not the First Time
The latest panda-pairing starts in 2025, but panda patches and mascots have been around since at least 1977.
Enjoy your stroll (scroll?) through past panda patches.
1977 Burry-Lu Bakeries
1978 Salerno Megowen Bakeries
1982 Salerno Megowen Bakeries
1988 Bakery Unknown
Recognize any of these? Let me know!
1989 Burry-LU Bakeries
2001 ABC Bakeries
ABC went semi-panda in 2001. That year’s theme was “We’re All Stars,” and most patches and prizes featured stars.
But oddly enough, a panda appears on the “Add a Friend” patch, which doesn’t even specify the year, and on a sterling silver charm–which does.
2010 Little Brownie Bakers
Little Brownie Bakers also offered an alternative take on panda patches.
Councils carried the panda theme into their own cookie programs with custom patches.
Yay! I made it through this post without using the term “pandemonium.”
© 2026 Ann Robertson, writer, editor, Girl Scout historian, but NOT a Girl Scout employee.