scottishritecaps

VALLEY OF NEW BERN
Scottish Rite

Under the Grand Constitutions of 1786, a Supreme Council elects its own
Active Members and is self perpetuating. It charters Subordinate Bodies in
cities (called Valleys) of states, territories, or countries (called Orients). In the
Southern Jurisdiction, the Subordinate Bodies must observe the Statutes of
our Supreme Council, its orders and regulations and, when The Supreme
Council is not in session, those of the Sovereign Grand Commander.

The Sovereign Grand Commander is the highest ranking officer of The
Supreme Council and the chief executive and judicial officer of the Rite within
this Supreme Council’s Jurisdiction. He is the representative of The
Supreme Council when that Body is not in session and is invested with
general powers of supervision and administration everywhere within its
Jurisdiction. The cap for the Sovereign Grand Commander is violet in color
and features a darker violet band embroidered with laurel vine, leaf, and
berry pattern in gold. On the front is the symbol of his office, a Cross of
Salem with crosslets.

This is the title of an Active Member of The Supreme Council. There is only
one Active Member for any one Orient (state, territory, or country). He is the
highest ranking officer of the Rite within his jurisdiction, and, in relation to the
Rite, his powers are similar to those of a Grand Master of the Symbolic Craft
subject, however, to The Supreme Council and the Sovereign Grand
Commander. The cap of an Active Member is purple and features the symbol
of his office, a slanting Patriarchal Cross with crosslets.

In Orients (states, territories, or countries) which do not have an Active
Member, the Sovereign Grand Commander appoints a "Deputy of The
Supreme Council." The Deputy has powers similar to those of a Sovereign
Grand Inspector General. However, he has no vote in The Supreme Council
and holds his office at the pleasure of the Sovereign Grand Commander. The
Deputy's cap is white with a scarlet band and features on the front a slanting
Patriarchal Cross.

This is the highest individual honor that The Supreme Council bestows. It is
voted very rarely to Thirty-third Degree Masons only for the most exceptional
and extraordinary services. The Grand Cross cap is white with a blue band.
On the front is a replica of the Grand Cross jewel, which is composed of a
Teutonic Cross, with an embroidered crimson rose with green leaves at its
center.

During the Biennial Session of The Supreme Council, Sovereign Grand
Inspectors General and Deputies nominate a small quota of members who are
Knights Commander Court of Honour to receive the Thirty-third Degree. A
committee reviews the nominations, but The Supreme Council must vote upon
every nomination. Members unanimously so elected become honorary
members of The Supreme Council. The Thirty-third Degree may not be
requested. The Degree is conferred solely out of recognition for outstanding
services. The only difference between the jewel of the Thirty-third Degree and
that for an Active Member of The Supreme Council is that the latter is larger.
The cap for an Inspector General Honorary is white with a white band edged in
gold, featuring the symbol for this honorary Degree, a red slanting Patriarchal
Cross.

The Rank of Knight Commander of the Court of Honor is not a Degree, but an
Investiture bestowed upon members deserving recognition for faithful services
to the Rite. The respective Sovereign Grand Inspectors General or Deputies
likewise nominate members for this honor, and these must also be unanimously
approved by The Supreme Council. This Investiture is a prerequisite of
receiving the Thirty-third Degree at some later time, though relatively few
receive this distinction.
A Knight Commander of the Court of Honor is a Scottish Rite rank peculiar to
the Southern Jurisdiction, except that our Supreme Council has permitted the
Supreme Council for the Philippines (part of our Jurisdiction until 1949) to
continue the practice as one of their special honors bestowed.
The cap of the Knight Commander Court of Honor is red with a darker red band
trimmed in gold. In the center front is a representation of the Knight
Commander Jewel, a Passion Cross with fancy arms, featuring in the center a
trefoil embroidered in green encircled by the "Kt Comm Court of Honor"
embroidered in gold. The symbol used here, the tripod , was regularly used
in formal Masonic documents in place of a period in the abbreviation of formal
titles. Its use is maintained as a tribute to the Craft’s distinguished past in much
Masonic writing today, such as in the Scottish Rite Journal, but it may be and
often is replaced by a standard period.

This is the title of a 32° member of the Scottish Rite. The cap of a Master of the
Royal Secret is black silk with a black band trimmed in gold. In the center front
is a double-headed eagle emblem with a rayed equilateral triangle above in
gold. The triangle is red, has 32° in its center, and is trimmed with gold.
The jewel of the Thirty-second Degree is a Teutonic Cross of gold, one and
three-fourth inches square, with raised or beaded edges and a background
frosted surface, having in the center a wreath of green enamel, with a gold tie at
the bottom, and within the wreath the Roman numerals XXXII in gold.

Any 14° member of the Scottish Rite, Southern Jurisdiction, who is in good
standing and who became a member fifty years prior to the current calendar
year is entitled to recognition as such. Such recognition entitles the recipient to
receive a proper certificate and to wear a 50 year lapel pin or cap. The cap of a
50 year member is blue with a blue band. In the front at the center is a figure
"50" surrounded by a green silk embroidered laurel wreath.

THE SOVEREIGN GRAND COMMANDER