On Sunday evening April 19, 1925 a group of ten Eagle Scouts from the San Francisco Council gathered at 704 Market Street in San Francisco in the office of Scout Exec Raymond O Hanson.  The purpose of the meeting was to create an organization which would hold the interest of older scouts and could serve as an additional incentive for others to attain the rank of Eagle.  

Hanson had been thinking for some time about the problem of how to keep older scouts interested in Scouting.  There had been too much of a tendency  for those approaching “manhood”  to drift away and lose all interest with the movement.  At the same time growth of such organizations as the De Molays was phenomenal.  Hanson thought he knew the answer.  The older boys like rituals, so he worked out a ritual for the Scouts and named the order Dunamis and to make the organization thoroughly glamorous he decided to only invite Eagle Scouts to join. 

Although the Knights of Dunamis was started in San Francisco in 1925 by Scout Exec Raymond O Hanson, Hanson got the idea from across the bay in the Oakland Area Council.  Back in 1922 the Oakland Area Council Scout Exec Homer J. Bemiss created the “Tribe of the Ohitekah” at Camp Dimond in the Oakland hills.  The Tribe of Ohitekah was an Eagle Scout Association and was intended as a way to provide Eagles with a way to continue their service to Scouting and the community.  Hanson and Bemiss were good friends and Bemiss was the Adjutant Scout Exec for Hanson Back in 1917-1918.  In fact the Oakland and San Francisco councils did many things together.  Hanson took the Eagle Association idea from the Oakland Council and applied it to the San Francisco council and expanded upon the concept.  

The idea was so enthusiastically received by the group during this meeting that it was decided that night to organize an “Eagle honor society” devoted to service.  The name of the new association would be called the Knights of Dunamis.  When the KOD was first organized, the leadership of the association was led by the Chapter Commander, the Senior Councilor, the Junior Councilor, the senior guide, the junior guide and the inner and outer guards.

The name of the organization was carefully selected to reflect its dedication to service as the word “Dunamis” is derived from the Greek word meaning “power” or “Spirit”.  As “Knights,” the members would uphold the tradition of chivalrous service begun in medieval times. The motto of the Knights of Dunamis was “Power and Service”.

The insignia of the Knights of Dunamis would consist of an Eagle, a sword and a Shield of Dunamis.  The image of the Eagle symbolizes service, the sword symbolizes leadership gained in serving and the triangular Dunamis shield signified the three parts of the scout oath.  The official neckerchief for the general membership was white with a KD emblem sewn on the back.  A royal blue neckerchief with the emblem on the back was worn by national officers starting in 1949.  Councils that participated in the Knights of Dunamis met in their own local chapters.