Record Details
Independent Order of Odd Fellows Second Degree Banner
These banners show the variety that was available after the mid-nineteenth century. Some are painted, others are embroidered; some show the symbols all in gold, others employ different colors. Shapes and trimmings vary. Regalia makers generally sold banners in sets, with one each for the Initiatory Degree and three degrees of Odd Fellowship. These banners, whose dates are not known, display the symbols associated with the Third Degree in the structure prior to 1882 and the Second Degree thereafter. The blue ground is recognized as the symbol of the heavens, of divine eternity, and human immortality. As one Odd Fellows manual explained, “It is the proper symbol of Brotherly Love, indicating that it should be as far-reaching and constant as the ends of the earth.”
Stacy C. Hollander, "Independent Order of Odd Fellows Second Degree Banner," exhibition label for Mystery and Benevolence: Masonic and Odd Fellows Folk Art from the Kendra and Allan Daniel Collection. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2016.
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