A fraternal order is a voluntary membership group organised as an order, with an initiation ritual and traits alluding to

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

chivalric Chivalry, or the chivalric language, is an informal and varying code of conduct that developed in Europe between 1170 and 1220. It is associated with the medieval Christian institution of knighthood, with knights being members of various chival ...

or pseudo-chivalric orders,

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

s, or

secret societies A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

. Fraternal orders typically have

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

purposes, serving as social clubs, cultural organizations and providing a form of social welfare through reciprocal aid or charitable work. Many friendly societies, benefit societies and

mutual organisation A mutual organization, also mutual society or simply mutual, is an organization (which is often, but not always, a company or business) based on the principle of mutuality and governed by private law. Unlike a cooperative, members usually do not ...

s take the form of a fraternal order. Fraternal societies are often divided geographically into units called lodges or

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

s. They sometimes involve a system of

awards An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

medals A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be in ...

, decorations, styles, degrees,

offices An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...

orders Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

, or other distinctions, often associated with

regalia Regalia ( ) is the set of emblems, symbols, or paraphernalia indicative of royal status, as well as rights, prerogatives and privileges enjoyed by a sovereign, regardless of title. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and ...

, insignia,

initiation Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformatio ...

and other

ritual A ritual is a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors that alters the internal or external state of an individual, group, or environment, regardless of conscious understanding, emotional context, or symbolic meaning. Traditionally ...

s, secret greetings, signs, passwords,

oaths Traditionally, an oath (from Anglo-Saxon ', also a plight) is a statement of fact or a promise taken by a sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who object to making sacred oaths is to give an affirmation instead ...

, and more or less elaborate

symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

, as in chivalric orders.

Examples

The

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

and

Odd Fellows Odd Fellows (or Oddfellows when referencing the Grand United Order of Oddfellows or some British-based fraternities; also Odd Fellowship or Oddfellowship) is an international fraternity consisting of lodges first documented in 1730 in 18th-cen ...

emerged in the eighteenth century in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Other examples, which emerged later, include the

Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE), commonly known as the Elks Lodge or simply The Elks, is an American fraternal order and charitable organization founded in 1868 in New York City. Originally established as a social club for m ...

, the

Fraternal Order of Eagles Fraternal Order of Eagles (F.O.E.) is a fraternal organization that was founded on February 6, 1898, in Seattle, Washington, by a group of six theater-owners including John Cort (impresario), John Cort (the first president), brothers John Considin ...

E Clampus Vitus The Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus (ECV) is a fraternal organization dedicated to the preservation of the heritage of the Western United States, especially the history of the Mother Lode#California Mother Lode, Mother Lode and gold ...

, the

Independent Order of Rechabites The Independent Order of Rechabites (IOR), also known as the Sons and Daughters of Rechab,Alan Axelrod ''International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders'' New York; Facts on File, inc 1997 p.206 is a fraternal organisation a ...

, the

Templars of Honor and Temperance The Templars of Honor and Temperance, also known as the Tempel Riddare Orden, is a fraternal order that was founded in the United States in 1845 to promote the values of the temperance movement. Founded as the Marshall Temperance Fraternity, the Te ...

, the

Independent Order of Foresters The Independent Order of Foresters, operating as Foresters Financial, is a fraternal benefit society headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that provides life insurance and other financial solutions in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Uni ...

, the

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic Church, Catholic Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney, Blessed Michael J. McGivney. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. ...

, and the Loyal Order of Moose. Some may have ethnic or religious affiliations, such as

Ancient Order of Hibernians The Ancient Order of Hibernians (AOH; ) is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be male, Catholic, and either born in Ireland or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is in the United States, where it was founded in New Yo ...

or Order of Alhambra for

Irish Catholics Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

, or the

Orange Order The Loyal Orange Institution, commonly known as the Orange Order, is an international Protestant fraternal order based in Northern Ireland and primarily associated with Ulster Protestants. It also has lodges in England, Grand Orange Lodge of ...

for

Irish Protestants Protestantism is a Christianity, Christian community on the island of Ireland. In the 2011 census of Northern Ireland, 48% (883,768) described themselves as Protestant, which was a decline of approximately 5% from the 2001 census. In the 2011 ...

. Some orders have a clear political agenda, sometimes radical or militant - for example, the Nativist and

anti-Catholic Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics and opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and its adherents. Scholars have identified four categories of anti-Catholicism: constitutional-national, theological, popular and socio-cul ...

Order of the Star Spangled Banner and Order of United Americans, active in the 1840s US, or the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

. Some are associated with professions, such as the

Fraternal Order of Police The National Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is a fraternal organization consisting of sworn law enforcement officers in the United States. It reports a membership of over 355,000 members organized in 2,100 local chapters (lodges), state lodge ...

, while yet others are focused on academic traditions. In the more social type, each lodge is generally responsible for its own affairs, but it is often affiliated to an order such as the

Independent Order of Odd Fellows The Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) is a non-political, non-sectarian international fraternal order of Odd Fellowship. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Wildey in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Evolving from the Odd Fellows, Order ...

or the

. There are typically reciprocal agreements between lodges within an order, so that if members move to other cities or countries, they can join a new lodge without an initiation period. The ceremonies are fairly uniform throughout an order. Occasionally, a lodge might change the order that it is affiliated to, two orders might merge, or a group of lodges will break away from an order and form a new one. For example, the Independent Order of Foresters was set up in 1874 when it separated from the

Ancient Order of Foresters The Foresters Friendly Society is a British friendly society which was formed in 1834 as the Ancient Order of Foresters. As of 31 December 2016, the society had approximately 75,000 members. Its head office is located in Southampton, England. ...

, also called Foresters Friendly Society, which itself was formed from the Royal Foresters Society in 1834. Consequently, the histories of some fraternal orders and friendly societies are difficult to follow. Often there are different, unrelated organisations with similar names.

References

{{Authority control

Examples

See also

References