At its 22nd Biennial Conference in 1972 New Orleans, the National Catholic Committee on Scouting announced that a parish unit recognition award would be developed for Scout units under Catholic auspices. The first unit recognition award was approved in April of 1973 and presented one month later, at the biennial meeting of the National Council of the BSA in Minneapolis, to four parish units in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area: from St. Michael, St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Mark, and the Church of the Assumption.
The patch recognition was developed through the generous financial assistance of the Catholic Knights of St. George. The award consisted of a ribbon in papal colors bearing the coat of arms of Pope Paul VI for the unit's standard; a multicolored embroidered patch bearing the coat of arms for each registered member of the unit, boys and adults; and a multicolored certificate bearing the Pope's signature and coat of arms for the chartered partner. Pope Paul agreed to have the award given in his name.
Around 1982 the Serra Clubs took on the project of sponsoring the Pope Paul VI program, and the patch was changed to include the SERRA name.
Brown Lettering Gold Keys
Red Lettering Gold Keys
Red Lettering Gold+Silver Keys
Red Lettering Silver Keys
I'm not 100% sure that the indicated years are correct. Eugene Mozal of Marysville, MI (who allowed me to scan his collection of early Pope Paul VI patches) provided these years; but Truman Stacey of Lake Charles, LA (who, with then-NCCS Executive Secretary Josef Kessler, designed the first Pope Paul VI patch under Serran auspices) sent me a photocopy of the original "Serra" patch design -- which indicates that the patch with gold and silver keys and red lettering was first (in which case, I suspect that the patch with two silver keys and red lettering was second, the patch with two gold keys and red lettering was third, and the patch with two gold keys and brown lettering was fourth -- but that's only my theory. I'd love to hear from anyone who knows for sure!)
Later the Serra funding was discontinued and when a new supply of patches was ordered, the word SERRA was replaced with NCCS. In 2002 the shape was changed to oval, in 2008 the award was renamed the Pope Paul VI National Catholic Quality Unit Award, and in 2017 the award was renamed the National Catholic Unit Excellence Award.
If you have (or have access to) any patches not shown, please contact the webmaster!