You're about to have the whole club's patches embroidered. You open Google, type “RUD pathfinders”, and five different files show up: one from 2011, one from 2013, one called “new regulation” with no date, and a giant PDF from 2020. Which one should your seamstress follow?
That doubt costs money. A wrongly embroidered patch, a skirt sewn shorter than the current rule allows, a name tag with the design from another era — all of that means redoing it. And redoing it, in the club, almost always comes out of families' pockets.
So let's get straight to the point: the edition in force is the 2020 one, and it expressly revokes everything that came before. The earlier standalone guidelines — the OMDs — are still useful for understanding why something changed, but where the 2020 manual says something different, the manual prevails. If you want to understand the uniform piece by piece, head to the article on the official uniform; here the conversation is about versions.
Which Edition of the RUD Applies Today?
Short answer: the 2020 edition. The RUD — short for Uniform Regulation of Pathfinders — is the manual that the South American Division (the SAD, headquarters of the Adventist Church for eight South American countries) publishes to specify what the uniforms of Adventurers, Pathfinders, and leaders look like, who wears them, and how they're made. The latest complete edition has 56 pages and began circulating in February 2020.
The most important point in the manual comes right in the first line of the General Guidelines: “This manual revokes all regulations prior to its publication.” That's what settles the argument in the WhatsApp group. When an older guideline and the 2020 text say different things, the 2020 text prevails.
It's a single document for both clubs. That's why you'll find the same file under different names out there: “RUD,” “MDA Uniform Regulation 2020,” “Manual of Uniform Regulations.” It's all the same thing — MDA stands for Pathfinder and Adventurer Ministry.
And the printed version that shows up in stores dated February 2025? It has the same 56 pages and costs R$ 9,44 at Editora Sobre Tudo, the publisher responsible for printing the official material. In our survey on 21/07/2026, we found no announcement on the SAD's official channels of any edition later than 2020 — the most likely reading is that the 2025 printing is a reprint of the same content, though we don't have official confirmation of that.
Keep this sentence in mind, because it's the one that answers the headline question: as of July 2026, the document in force is the RUD 2020.
Is There a RUD 2026? And Why Does This Search Come Back Every Year?
There is no RUD 2026 — at least not as of this survey's date. The search comes back every year because the club runs on annual cycles: new calendar, new leadership board, a new group of 10-year-olds joining. So people's minds associate “new year, new manual.” But a regulation isn't a calendar: it stays in force until the SAD publishes another one.
What changes along the way are standalone documents. The best known is the OMD — Pathfinder Ministry Guideline: a short, one-page official document that changes one specific point of a manual without waiting for the next edition. Think of them like app updates: the app stays the same, but that button moved. The RUD 2020 itself instructs readers to watch for three types of document: OMDs, OMAs (the Adventurer version), and NEs, Explanatory Notes.
The SAD keeps the full list of OMDs on its official website. As of 21/07/2026 there are 21 OMDs published between 2013 and 2024, and the most recent is OMD 021/2024, dated 17/12/2024, which covers updates to the class books — nothing about uniforms. Here's which ones touched on uniforms:
| OMD | Date | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| OMD 003/2013 | 05/08/2013 | Uniform Manual — length of the girls' skirt |
| OMD 008/2014 | 01/08/2014 | Special uniform exclusively for weddings |
| OMD 014/2018 | 15/04/2018 | Uniform Manual — LD2 and LD3 patches, name tag, and epaulet/braid |
| OMD 021/2024 | 17/12/2024 | Latest OMD published (class books, not about uniforms) |
Notice something a lot of people miss: all three uniform-related OMDs predate 2020. In other words, they amended the old manual, and the 2020 manual came after them. From the publication of the 2020 edition until today, no new OMD has addressed uniforms. That's why anyone who wants to know the current rule should read the RUD 2020 — and use the OMD page only to check whether anything new has come up since. For the full map of the club's documents, see official Pathfinder manuals.
What Changed From One Version to the Next?
Here's the timeline, with dates and documents in hand. It explains why two Pathfinders can both be “right” while wearing different uniforms: each one followed a different era of the regulation.
| When | Document | What Happened |
|---|---|---|
| 05/08/2013 | OMD 003/2013 | Changes the length of the girls' skirt in the Uniform Manual then in force |
| 13/09/2013 | Official “Uniform Regulations” page | The SAD publishes the then-new Uniform Regulation for download |
| 15/04/2018 | OMD 013/2018 and OMD 014/2018 | Two guidelines issued the same day: one on purchasing patches (Administrative Manual) and another with four uniform adjustments |
| February 2020 | RUD 2020 (56 pages) | New consolidated edition. Revokes previous regulations, adopts the Uniform A, B, and C naming, and rewrites points that the 2013 and 2018 OMDs had changed |
| 17/12/2024 | OMD 021/2024 | Latest OMD published as of this survey — not about uniforms |
| February 2025 | Printed edition (Editora Sobre Tudo) | Same 56 pages, R$ 9,44 |
The 2020 change that confuses the most well-meaning people is the name change: what everyone used to call the “dress uniform” became Uniform A — the manual has a section with that exact title, “Uniform A – Dress Uniform.” The activity uniforms came to be called Uniform B and Uniform C. The pieces didn't change function — what changed is the label the regulation uses for them. We break down this trio in the article on the activity uniform.
Before and After: The Changes That Hit Your Wallet
Here's the real changelog — the before and after of each item changed by an official document, with dates. Notice that two items have two rows: the OMD from one era changed the rule, and the 2020 manual changed it again.
| Item | How It Was | How It Is Now | Document |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skirt (1st movement) | Hem 3 cm above the knee | Hem at the knee — neither above nor below | OMD 003/2013 (05/08/2013) |
| Skirt (current rule) | At the knee, neither above nor below | Must be worn at knee height or below | RUD 2020, p. 30 and 32 |
| LD2 Patch (Master Leader) | Globe without white background | Globe with white background and light moss-green outline, silver seven-pointed star over a red triangle | OMD 014/2018 |
| LD3 Patch (Advanced Master Leader) | Globe without white background | Globe with white background and light moss-green outline, gold seven-pointed star over a blue triangle | OMD 014/2018 |
| Name Tag (1st movement) | D1 Patch | D3 Patch | OMD 014/2018 |
| Name Tag (current text) | D3 Patch | Goes back to describing the D1 patch, in metal or acrylic with a black background | RUD 2020, p. 48 |
| Epaulet/Braid | No difference by level | Gold stripes according to level — Field: two · Union: three · Division: four · General Association: five | OMD 014/2018 and RUD 2020, p. 49 |
| Deadline to Comply With 2018 Patches | — | 31/12/2019 | OMD 014/2018 |
| Uniform Names | Dress and activity | Uniform A, Uniform B, and Uniform C | RUD 2020 |
Two transparency notes about this table. First: the “How It Was” column for the LD2, LD3, and epaulet rows is inferred from the text of OMD 014/2018 itself, which only describes the new rule and highlights what took effect — the OMD doesn't transcribe the old wording. Second: the epaulet row combines two documents, because the 2020 manual details one more level (General Association, five stripes) than the 2018 OMD covered.
And the name tag case deserves extra attention, because it's where most people waste money. OMD 014/2018 ordered the ID name tag's patch to be changed from D1 to D3. But the RUD 2020, published afterward, describes the name tag with the D1 patch — and the manual's three illustrations showing the name tag (pages 48, 53, and 54) all show the D1. Since the 2020 manual revokes previous regulations, the most straightforward reading is that D1 applies. Even so, this is exactly the kind of point where different Fields give different guidance: if you're having name tags made for the whole club, ask your Field which artwork applies today before approving the design. The codes for each patch are explained in patch codes.
Also notice the deadline OMD 014/2018 gave for the patch changes, 31/12/2019 — nobody had to rush the very next day, and that's how the SAD typically handles patch changes.
Read alsoWhere to Wear the Pathfinder UniformThe Skirt Case: Why So Many People Got It Wrong
If there's one item that sums up the version confusion, it's the Uniform A skirt. It changed twice, and most of the texts circulating out there stopped at the first change.
Until 2013, the manual said the hem of the skirt sat 3 cm above the knee. On 05/08/2013, OMD 003/2013 changed that passage to “the hem of the skirt is at the knee, neither above nor below” — the wording that became a rule memorized around the club and that's still repeated today in posts, handouts, and WhatsApp groups.
But the RUD 2020 rewrote the item. In the skirt description, both for the 10-to-15-year-old Pathfinder girl (p. 30) and for leadership, pastors, and leaders over 16 (p. 32), the current text reads: “Must be worn at knee height or below.” In other words, today's standard is more lenient than 2013's: below the knee is also within the rule.
In practice, this means two things. If your club's skirt was made from a pattern older than August 2013, it's probably too short for the current standard and genuinely needs to be redone. But if someone had a skirt made a little below the knee and was told “that's wrong, it has to be at the knee,” that complaint is based on wording the 2020 manual has already replaced. Before redoing a garment, check the 2020 edition's diagram and confirm with your Association, because the Field may have supplementary guidance. The discussion about pants for girls is a different story, covered in can girls wear pants?.
Where to Download the Official RUD (and What to Do If the Link Is Down)?
The official route is the “Uniform Regulations” page on the Adventist Church website, within the Pathfinders section: adventistas.org → Pathfinders → Uniform Regulations. That's where the “Click here to download” button is.
An honest note from someone who went and checked: on the day of our survey, 21/07/2026, the address that button points to (on the downloads.adventistas.org portal) returned a server error. We tested it more than once, on different days. It could be temporary — worth trying again. If it doesn't open, there are three routes that don't depend on that link:
- Your club's secretary. Every regular club should have the manual. Ask the leadership for a copy — it's the fastest and safest way.
- The Field's department director. Your region's Association or Mission has the updated file and knows whether any local guidance has been layered on top of it.
- Printed version. Editora Sobre Tudo sells the manual for R$ 9,44 (price checked on 21/07/2026), and it's also available at SELS stores. For that price, keeping the little booklet in the secretary's bag solves the problem for the whole year.
A word about the PDFs circulating in repositories and groups: the most widely shared file is about 34 MB and corresponds to the 2020 edition, but the manual is official Church material, and the text itself reserves to the SAD the creation and regulation of uniform items. One more methodological caution: there was a short-lived earlier edition — records circulate of a 2011 regulation that was replaced a few years later — and it's common for flawed copies or preliminary versions to show up presented as if they were final. We were unable to confirm the full history of those older editions through an official channel, so we're treating this as a caution, not a dated fact. Bottom line: a file that arrived via WhatsApp with no date and no source deserves suspicion — the quick test is checking whether it has 56 pages and uses the Uniform A, B, and C naming.
Who Decides What: SAD, Field, and Club
The rule has three tiers, and mixing up the tiers is the source of half the arguments about uniforms.
1) The South American Division writes the rule. It's the SAD that edits the RUD and publishes the OMDs, and the manual states that it applies across the entire Division's territory — Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. The text itself says that creating or changing items of the official uniforms is the SAD's exclusive responsibility. Shirt color, patch placement, sash measurements: none of that is negotiable at the club level.
2) The Union and the Field implement it. The Association or Mission (the Field) is responsible for the activity uniform in your region, approves the club's uniform, names accredited suppliers, and sets local compliance deadlines. If you received guidance different from what you read online, it probably came from there — and the Field is what governs your club.
3) The club decides what's left. The style and color of the activity uniform's T-shirt, cap, jacket: the club chooses, with approval from the church committee and the Field. What the club cannot do is invent a piece of Uniform A or create its own scarf — the manual explicitly states that the SAD's official scarves are burgundy for Adventurers and yellow for Pathfinders, and that creating other commemorative or event scarves is not allowed.
So why so much rigor? Because the uniform is what lets a Pathfinder from Manaus recognize a Pathfinder from Porto Alegre in three seconds, in the middle of a camporee with tens of thousands of people. A standardized uniform also protects families' wallets: the fewer “customized versions,” the fewer people who buy the wrong thing and buy it twice. The order of the insignia, by the way, has its own article: insignia placement.
How to Tell If the Page You Found Is Outdated?
A quick checklist, counselor to counselor:
- Look for the date. A good portion of the uniform content that shows up in search results is from 2010 to 2013. An undated post is a yellow flag.
- Be careful even on the official site. adventistas.org has more than one page on the topic, and one of them, from 2013, still points to the old regulation, from the Youth Ministry era. An official page isn't the same as a current page — check the publication date.
- Check the file. The valid PDF has 56 pages, covers Pathfinders and Adventurers in the same document, and uses the Uniform A, B, and C naming.
- Be wary of “RUD changes” lists. A lot of what's out there describes the 2018 OMDs as if they were the final word. They predate the 2020 manual.
- Be wary of loose artwork. A patch image saved from the club group chat isn't a source; the manual's diagram is.
- When in doubt, ask upward. Club secretary → regional → Field department director. That chain solves in a day what Google won't solve in a week.
It's worth spelling out exactly where each tool fits in. The SGC (the Club Management System, at sg.sdasystems.org) is the Church's official system and is irreplaceable: it's where the member gets registered, where the class is logged, and where the annual insurance happens. Desbravai, which publishes this portal, is a support tool — it helps organize the club's information, schedule, and communication. Neither replaces the other, and no software changes the RUD: it's the SAD that publishes regulations.
Finally, the question we get most: “my uniform is the old standard, do I need to rush and replace it?” No. When there's a patch change, the SAD usually gives a deadline — OMD 014/2018 gave until 31/12/2019. Outside official deadlines, the Field sets the pace. Replace it at the natural moment, when the piece gets too small or wears out, and prioritize what's worn at ceremonies. The uniform exists to include people, not to embarrass those who can't afford to buy twice in the same year.