Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

BLUE
BLUE 109
synonymous terms ; and hence the appropriate
color of the greatest of all the systems of
initiation may well be designated by a word
which also signifies perfection.
This color also held a prominent position in
the symbolism of the Gentile nations of antiquity
. Among the Druids, blue was the
symbol of truth, and the candidate, in the
initiation into the sacred rites of Druidism,
was invested with a robe composed of the
three colors, white, blue, and green .
The Egyptians esteemed blue as a sacred
color, and the body of Amun, the principal
god of their theogony, was painted light blue,
to imitate, as Wilkinson remarks, "his peculiarly
exalted and heavenly nature ."
The ancient Babylonians clothed their idols
in blue, as we learn from the prophet Jeremiah .
The Chinese, in their mystical philosophy,
represented blue as the symbol of the Deity,
because, being, as they say, compounded of
black and red, this color is a fit representation
of the obscure and brilliant, the male and
female, or active and passive principles .
The Hindus assert that their god, Vishnu,
was represented of a celestial blue, thus indicating
that wisdom emanating from God
was to be symbolized by this color .
Among the medieval Christians blue was
sometimes considered as an emblem of immortality,
as red was of the Divine love .
Portal says that blue was the symbol of perfection,
hope, and constancy. "The color of
the celebrated dome, azure," says Weale, in
his treatise on Symbolic Colors, "was in divine
language the symbol of eternal truth ; in consecrated
language, of immortality; and in
profane language, of fidelity ."
Besides the three degrees of Ancient Craft
Masonry, of which blue is the appropriate
color, this tincture is also to be found in
several other degrees, especially of the Scottish
Rite, where it bears various symbolic signification,
; all, however, more or less related to its
original character as representing universal
friendship and benevolence .
In the degree of Grand Pontiff, the Nineteenth
of the Scottish Rite, it is the predominating
color, and is there said to be
symbolic of the mildness, fidelity, and gentleness
which ought to be the characteristics
of every true and faithful brother .
In the degree of Grand Master of all Symbolic
Lodges, the blue and yellow, which are
its appropriate colors, are said to refer to the
appearance of Jehovah to Moses on Mount
Sinai in clouds of azure and gold, and hence in
this degree the color is rather an historical
than a moral symbol .
The blue color of the tunic and apron,
which constitutes a part of the investiture of
a Prince of the Tabernacle, or Twenty-fourth
Degree in the Scottish Rite alludes to the
whole symbolic character of the degree, whose
teachings refer to our removal from this
tabernacle of clay to "that house not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens ." The
blue in this degree is, therefore, a symbol of
heaven, the seat of our celestial tabernacle .
Blue Blanket. The Lodge of Journeymen,
in the city of Edinburgh, is in possession
of a blue blanket, which is used as a banner
in Masonic processions . The history of it is
thus given in the London Magazine :
"A number of Scotch mechanics followed
Allan, Lord Steward of Scotland, to the holy
wars in Palestine, and took with them a
banner, on which were inscribed the following
words from the 51st Psalm, viz . : `In bona
voluntate tua edificentur muri Hierosolymse .'
Fighting under the banner, these valiant
Scotchmen were present at the capture of
Jerusalem, and other towns in the Holy Land ;
and, on their return to their own country
they deposited the banner which they styled
`The Banner of the Holy Ghost,' at the altar of
St . Eloi, the patron saint of the Edinburgh
Tradesmen, in the church of St . Giles. It
was occasionally unfurled, or worn as a mantle
by the representatives of the trades in the
courtly and religious pageants that in former
times were of frequent occurrence in the
Scottish capital . In 1482, James III., in consequence
of the assistance which be had received
from the Craftsmen of Edinburgh, in
delivering him from the castle in which he was
kept a prisoner, and paying a debt of 6 000
Marks which he had contracted in mating
preparations for the marriage of his son, the
Duke of Rothsay, to Cecil, daughter of
Edward IV., of England, conferred on the
good town several valuable privileges, and
renewed to the Craftsmen their favorite
banner of `The Blue Blanket.' James's
queen, Margaret of Denmark to show her
gratitude and respect to the Grafts, painted
on the banner, with her own hands, a St .
Andrew's cross, a crown, a thistle, and a
hammer, with the following inscription :
`Fear God and honor the king ; grant him a
long life and a prospe~rous reign, and we shall
ever pray to be faithful for the defence of his
sacred majesty's royal person till death .'
The king decreed that in all time comin this
fl should be the standard of the Crafts
wi ' burgh, and that it should be unfurled
in defence of their own rights, and in protection
of their sovereign . The privilege of
displaying it at the Masonic procession was
granted to the journeymen, in consequence of
their original connection with the Masons of
Mary's Chapel, one of the fourteen incorporated
trades of the city .
"'The Blue Blanket was long in a very
tattered condition ; but some years ago it was
repaired by lining it with blue silk, so that it
can be exposed without subjecting it to much
injury . "
An interesting little book was published with
this title in 1722 and later editions describing
the Operative Companies of Edinburgh .
Blue Degrees. The first three degrees of
Freemasonry are so called from the blue color
which is peculiar to them .
Blue Lodge. A Symbolic Lodge, in which
the first three degrees of Masonry are conferred,
is so called from the color of its decorations.