The Universal Language of Freemasonry - ArchiMeD - Johannes ...

Chapter 4 - Signs & Symbols 201
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." Hence, blue becomes
emblematic of heaven, the "seat of the celestial tabernacle." 563
Green
In the Third Degree, the green of the sprig of acacia denotes immortality of
the soul. According to the EOF, green as a Masonic color further plays a role in
the degrees of Perfect Master, Knight of the East, Knight of the Red Cross, and
Prince of Mercy. Thus, in the degree of Perfect Master, the color green
symbolizes the moral resurrection of the candidate, imparting to him that being
dead to vice enables him to revive in virtue. In the degree of Knight of the East
of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, green is supposed to allude to the
waters of the river Euphrates, while in the degree of the Red Cross, green is
interpreted as a symbol of the immutable nature of truth. In the 26 th degree of the
Scottish Rite, that of Prince of Mercy, the color green is also emblematic of truth
and is appropriate to this degree since it professes truth to be the "palladium of
the Order." 564
Purple
Blue and red, when mixed, give purple. According to an explanation of the
color purple in profane language, blue denotes fidelity, while red means war;
therefore, purple signifies constancy in spiritual combats. 565 In Freemasonry,
when the blue of "Blue Masonry," that is, the first three degrees, is mixed with
the red from "Red Masonry," the seventh degree and that of the Holy Royal
Arch, one obtains the three "purple degrees" that are between them:
Purple is the appropriate color of those degrees which, in the American
Rite, have been interpolated between the Royal Arch and Ancient Craft
Masonry, namely, the Mark, Past, and Most Excellent Masters. It is in
Masonry a symbol of fraternal union, because, being compounded of
blue, the color of the Ancient Craft, and red, which is that of the Royal
Arch, it is intended to signify the close connection and harmony which
should ever exist between those two portions of the Masonic system. 566
In American Masonry, purple is confined to these three intermediate degrees
between Master Mason and Royal Arch. Exceptions are the use of purple in the
vestments of officers who represent kings or eminent authority, such as the
Scribe in a Royal Arch Chapter. Contrarily, in the Grand Lodge of England,
563 Cf. EOF, p. 109.
564 Cf. ibid, p. 310.
565 Cf. EOF, p. 601.
566 Ibid.