The badge of the PPÖ is dark red with a white combination of a fleur-de-lis and a trefoil, the symbols of WOSM and WAGGGS, respectively.

An umbrella organization, the Österreichischer Pfadfinderbund (ÖPB), was founded in April 1914 and included the Girl Guide movement.

This organization had strong ties to Magyar Cserkészszövetség and Junák, which were independent Scout associations in Bohemia.

The Girl Guides Association grew more prominent with the foundation of the Österreichischer Pfadfinderinnenbund, which was part of the national organization and was led by Marie Antoinette Hofmann; this was followed by an independent girls' association, formed in 1929, called Bund der Helferinnen.

With the arrival of the Nazis and World War II, however, Scouting in Austria was banned altogether.

Wishing for unity, the various national organizations combined to form the Pfadfinder Österreichs, which hosted the 7th World Scout Jamboree in Bad Ischl in 1951 with 12,884 participants from 61 countries.

After only a few short years, however, several leading figures left the Pfadfinder Österreichs to reestablish the Österreichischer Pfadfinderbund in 1949.

The boys and girls associations were finally merged again in 1976, forming the modern Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs.

Some troops, notably in Eastern Austria, have introduced a Biber (Beaver) class for children younger than 7.

The Peace Light of Bethlehem is a program inaugurated in Austria in 1986 as part of a charitable relief mission for handicapped children and people in need.

[6] In 2007, a delegation of Guides and Scouts from Austria, Germany, Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian National Authority together lit the Peace Light in Bethlehem.

[7][permanent dead link‍] Also in 2005 the International Commissioner of Austria Thomas Ertlthaler passed the Peace Light to a delegation of Guides and Scouts from the Palestinian National Authority under the leadership of Saed Shomali, the International Commissioner of the Palestinian Scout Association.