Banners, Royal Arch.

Banners, Royal Arch. Much of the ritualism of the Royal Arch Degree is based on treating the Chapter room as a symbol of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness with the banners of the various Tribes of the Hebrews. Out of the very brief ref­erence in the Book of Numbers 2:1-2: ”Every man of the Children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard,” the Jewish Rabbis and Talmudists drew heavily upon their imaginations to read ban­ners for standards and to prescribe colors and emblems for each of the Twelve Tribes. Such in­terpretations reached their culmination under the pen of Dr. George Oliver (Historical Landmarks, Vol. I, p. 56; Vol. II, pp. 245, 393, 394, 407), and since the ritual of the English Royal Arch made use of the banners or insignia of all Twelve Tribes, that author had the opportunity to extend his remarks to great length.

In the American ritual, only the banners of what are supposed to have been the four leading Tribes are used, though that system was taken from the English Royal Arch of the 18th century which also used but four, that is, Judah, Ephraim, Reuben, and Dan, whose emblems were, respectively, the Lion, the Ox, the Man, and the Eagle, the colors being, respectively, white, scarlet, purple, and blue. Since these colors are usually named in reverse order, that is, the order in which the Veils are passed during the ceremonies, some confusion may result if that fact is not kept in mind. The order in American chapters is: First Veil: Dan, banner blue, the Eagle; Second Veil: Reuben, banner purple, the Man; Third Veil: Ephraim, banner scarlet, the Ox; and Fourth Veil: Judah, banner white, the Lion. (Some jurisdictions use the man on scarlet and the ox on purple.) The supposed symbolism behind the assignment of the emblems to those respective Tribes is stated by Oliver in the last mentioned work (Vol. II, p. 400, note 23), together with fanciful estimates of the populations of the several Tribes (id. p. 401, note 26 et seq.). See Revelation 4:6-8; Ezekiel 1:5-10.

But whatever may have been the origin, explana­tion, or fitness of this symbolism, it penetrated deeply into Masonic lore. The Ancient Grand Lodge of England (q.v.) adopted the Royal Arch Degree as a part of Craft Masonry and the ”per­fection and consummation of the Third Degree,” and adopted the same symbolism in its Arms and Seal, so that the Lion, the Ox, the Man, and the Eagle, wherever they appear in Masonry, are foot prints of the Ancients. These symbols were quar­tered in the Arms of the Ancient Grand Lodge and, at the Union of 1813 between that body and the Modern Grand Lodge, the central shield of the new Arms was divided equally between the two, the Arms of the Ancients occupying the half of the shield to the reader’s right. That general design of Arms has also been adopted in the Seals of the Grand Lodges of California and Arizona, and the Grand Lodge of New York adopted Arms almost identical with those of the Ancient Grand Lodge. See DEGREES, ROYAL ARCH; ANCIENT GRAND LODGE.