The Caps and their Significance

The caps of the Scottish Rite are known as prayer caps. They are worn to show respect and devotion to God, and to identify the wearer as a Scottish Rite Mason. This is worn instead of the traditional masonic apron.

“In the Scottish Rite, the caps [indicate] the consecration of one’s physical and spiritual (material and intellectual) attributes to the betterment of humanity. On the one hand, the caps are an inheritance from our chivalric tradition, as similar ones were associated with European Orders of Knighthood, where they evolved from the Arming Bonnet, worn under the helmet. On the other hand, they are also worn as a type of prayer cap, a tradition which also survives in some religions. Thus, the caps are a constant reminder that the physical must be subject to the spiritual and that, like knights, we must valiantly endeavor to maintain honor and virtue by applying the Moral Sense and Reason.” —From Arturo de Hoyos, Scottish Rite Ritual Monitor and Guide, 3rd Ed., Corrected (Washington, DC: The Supreme Council, 33°, SJ, 2010), 135.

Scottish Rite masons wear many different colors of caps:

Master of the Royal Secret

Denotes a Master of the Royal Secret, the title of a 32° Mason of the Scottish Rite. This is the first cap that any Scottish Rite mason is able to wear.

50 Year Cap

The blue caps are worn by those Masons who have held membership in the Rite for at least 50 years. It is a great honor and achievement to have served the Rite for 50 years.

Knights Commander of the Court of Honor

The red caps are worn by those members who are 32° KCCH. At its biennial session certain 32° Scottish Rite Masons who have been 32° Masons at least four years, who have rendered signal service to the Rite, are chosen by the Supreme Council to receive the Rank and Decoration. The members who hold it are designated 32° KCCH. KCCH stands for Knights Commander of the Court of Honor. It is not a Degree but an Investiture bestowed upon members deserving recognition for faithful services to the Rite. It is one of the great honors in all Scottish Rite Freemasonry to be designated to receive this honor. The 32° KCCH can not be asked for and if asked for must be refused.

33° Inspector General Honorary

The white caps are worn by those who have been honored with the 33° Inspector General Honorary. The Thirty-third Degree is conferred by the Supreme Council upon members of the Rite in recognition of outstanding service to the Rite, or in public life, to the principles taught in the Degrees. The 33° can not be asked for and if asked for must be refused. At its biennial session, the Supreme Council elects members of the Rite to receive the Degrees. These 33° Scottish Rite Masons are Inspectors General Honorary and honorary members of the Supreme Council. The active members of the Supreme Council are chosen from among them. A member must have previously been invested with the Rank and Decoration of Knight Commander of the Court of Honour, be a KCCH for at least four years, and have attained the age of 35 years before he can be nominated for election to receive the 33°.

Grand Cross of the Court of Honour

The white cap with a 1¼” band of blue silk velvet is worn by the brother who is a 33° Mason and who has been elected by the Supreme Council to the Grand Cross of the Court of Honour. This is the highest decoration that can be bestowed on an Inspector General Honorary. It is voted very rarely to Thirty-third Degree Masons only for the most exceptional and extraordinary services.

Deputy of the Supreme Council

The white cap with a 1¼” scarlet band denotes a Deputy of the Supreme Council. In orients (states, territories, or countries) that 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.

Sovereign Grand Inspector General

The purple cap denotes a 33° Sovereign Grand Inspector General and an active member of the Supreme Council. 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.

Sovereign Grand Commander

The violet cap denotes a 33° Sovereign Grand Inspector General and an active member of the Supreme Council, and 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.

Correct Wearing of the Cap

The Supreme Council has set forth rules for the correct wearing of the cap. When wearing a cap it will be considered to be a part of the apparel of the wearer and will not be removed. At the presentation of the flag, the cap will remain in place, and the members will stand at attention with the right hand over the heart. During prayer, the cap will remain in place and the hands and arms will be crossed as in the 18th Degree – the “Sign of the Good Shepherd”.

The wearing of caps is considered proper a Reunions, Scottish Rite Meetings, Maundy Thursday services, etc. It is improper for the cap to be worn in any other public place.