Royal Black Institution
Protestant fraternal organisation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Imperial Grand Black Chapter of the British Commonwealth, or simply the Royal Black Institution,[1] is a Protestant fraternal society based in Northern Ireland established in 1797.
Areas found:
United Kingdom (based mainly in Northern Ireland and Scotland),
Republic of Ireland (almost exclusively in County Donegal),
United States,
Canada,
Australia,
New Zealand
other Commonwealth countries
| |
 Royal Black Institution parade, Bangor, County Down | |
| Formation | 1797 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Loughall, County Armagh Areas found: United Kingdom (based mainly in Northern Ireland and Scotland), Republic of Ireland (almost exclusively in County Donegal), United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand other Commonwealth countries |
Official language | English |
| William Anderson | |
Imperial Grand Registrar | Robert Dane |
| Website | royalblack |
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Royal Black Preceptory branches participate in key Royal Black events and parades, including the "Royal Thirteenth" Bangor and Scarva parades and sham fight, which takes place the day after the Twelfth of July processions.[2][3][4] The other major parade is Black Saturday, also known as the "Last Saturday in August".[5][6]
In 2016, a theological working group set up by the Church of Ireland was informed by the organisation's leadership that it had a membership of around 17,000, of whom around 16,000 lived in the British Isles.[7] It has a growing presence in the United States and Canada.[8] There are also preceptories in West Africa and Oceania.[9][10]
History
The Royal Black Institution was formed in Ireland in September 1797, two years after the formation of the Orange Order in Daniel Winter's cottage, Loughgall, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.[11]
The society is formed from Orangemen, who hold the Royal Arch Purple Degree, and can be seen as a progression of those Orders, although they are three separate institutions. Anyone wishing to be admitted to the Royal Black Institution must first become a member of an Orange Order Lodge, and complete the Royal Arch Purple Degree. Members are expected to accept the doctrine of the Trinity and confess a personal faith in Christ.[7]
The Royal Black is often referred to as "the senior of the loyal orders".[12]
Members wear a sash or collarette of which the predominant colour is black.
The word "Royal" in the title is allegedly a reference to 1 Peter 2:9 'You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people...’, not to politics or the British monarchy. The word "Black" allegedly refers to mortality, and is a symbol of mourning.[7]
The Royal Black Institution has adopted a more conciliatory attitude to contentious parades than the Orange Order, and is less overtly political, though not without political influence.
In 2012, after loyalist bands defied a Parades Commission ruling on Black Saturday by playing music outside St Patrick's Catholic Church on Donegall Street, Belfast, the Royal Black Institution issued an apology to the clergy and parishioners of the church for any offence caused. The parish priest, Father Michael Sheehan, welcomed the apology and "the sincere Christian spirit behind it".[13]
In 2023, The Royal Black Institution held its first annual conference outside of the British Isles. It took place in Virginia Beach, Virginia, and was hosted by the reformed Grand Black Chapter of the United States of America.[14]
Organisation and events
Its headquarters is in Loughgall, County Armagh. Members refer to each other as "Sir Knight", whereas in the Orange Order members are referred to as "Brother" or "Brethren".[15]
The organisation is structured with the Imperial Grand Black Chapter as the presiding body, and which comprises representatives from County Chapters. Counties are sub-divided into districts, which are formed by groups of preceptories.
Royal Black institution partake in charity for communities around the world. In 2011, 17 members travelled to Uganda to carry out projects, and provided a hospital with £90,000 in aid.[16]
The RBI claim that their basis is the promotion of scripture and the principles of the Protestant Reformation.[17][18] It has preceptories throughout the world, mainly in the major English-speaking countries, and is particularly strong in Newfoundland and Labrador.[9]
In 1931, on the day before a planned demonstration by members of the Royal Black Institution, crossing the border from Northern Ireland and into the then Irish Free State, the IRA occupied Cootehill in County Cavan, as a counter protest.[19] The Ulster Protestants responded with a boost in membership in the loyal orders. Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Lord Craigavon condemned it, and resulted in a hardened border and helped push the cause of the existence of Northern Ireland.[20][21]
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In Northern Ireland, the institution organises an annual parade in the village of Scarva, County Down, on 13 July (the day after the Orange Order's 12 July celebrations). It is commonly referred to as "The Sham Fight" as it involves a mock fight between actors reenacting the Battle of the Boyne.[15][22] The other 13 July location takes place annually in Bangor, which is a large parade. In 2026, 105 perceptories and 95 bands took part.[23]
The other major parade of the year is "Black Saturday", also known as "The Black Parade" and "Last Saturday", held on the last Saturday in August at several locations throughout Ulster (including a major parade in Raphoe in the Laggan district of East Donegal, Ireland).[24][15]: 480 The event is attended by senior Royal Black members from other country's Black Chapters, including, Togo, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and the United States. [25]
Regional Black Chapters
Grand Black Chapter of Scotland
The society is also popular in Scotland, where 60 preceptories exist organised into 11 districts across the country.[26] Twenty-six marches by the Black Institution have taken place in Glasgow alone between 2009 and 2010.[1]
Evidence exists for Black organizations in Scotland before the modern Royal Black Institution was fully consolidated in Ireland. A "Royal Black Association" certificate dated 1821 and a "Loyal Black Association Lodge No. 24" meeting in Glasgow in 1828.[27]
Towns with a strong local history like Larkhall, Linlithgow, and Glasgow regularly host the Black Saturday parade.[28]
Grand Black Chapter of the United States of America
The Royal Black Institution has a growing presence in the United States of America. The United States has an established Ulster-Scots heritage and long history of the Orange Order's influence in the United States, through Ulster-Scots immigration to the country in the 18th and 19th centuries.[29] The Supreme Grand Orange Lodge of the United States was established in 1870, and the Royal Black Institution followed.[30]
In the mid-1800s, Royal Black members began meeting informally in private homes and local Orange Halls mainly in New York and Pennsylvania, but they weren't officially established as an independent chartered Royal Black Chapter. In 1873, the first official local chapters was established.[31][32]
The country's national division is known as the Grand Black Chapter of the United States of America, and was reformed in 2014. This campaign seen a resurgence in numbers in the Chapters. The four American preceptories are: Carolina RBP 1670 in South Carolina; Sons of Liberty RBP 1776 in Pennsylvania; Old Dominion RBP 1607 in Virginia; and McKinley RBP 1690 in California.[8]
Grand Black Chapter of Canada
The Grand Black Chapter of Canada was firstly registered as the Grand Black Chapter of British America, when it was established in 1874 in Toronto, Canada.[33]
The Royal Black Institution were brought to British North America by Irish and Scottish immigrants. The earliest recorded footprint of the order in Canada dates back to 1829, when individual immigrant waves carried independent "Black Knight" warrants into the colonies, predating a cohesive national governance.[34]
Grand Black Chapter of England
The Grand Black Chapter of England oversees the 25 preceptories throughout England.[35][36] The Institution made its way to England in 1845.[37] They are split into the following districts
- Liverpool District No 1 (3 Preceptories)
- Liverpool District No 2 (8 Preceptories)
- Manchester District No 4 (3 Preceptories)
- Liverpool North End and Bootle District No 6 (3 Preceptories)
- South of England District No 11 (6 Preceptories)
Two English preceptories, due to their location report to the Grand Black Chapter of England.[38]
Republic of Ireland
There are a number of Preceptories and Districts in the Republic of Ireland, with the majority being in border counties, including County Monaghan, County Cavan and County Donegal. County Monaghan has 2 District Chapters with 14 Preceptories and County Cavan has 3 District Chapters with 12 Preceptories.[9]
As the Republic doesn't have an exclusive, fixed parade, instead, Districts, alongside their respective Preceptories, merge with County Black Chapters for their own county demonstration held in Northern Ireland[39] (An example being South Donegal No 3 District is associated with the County Fermanagh Grand Black Chapter).[40] However, major Royal Black demonstrations have been held in the Republic in the 21st century.
The town of Raphoe hosted Ireland's first major Royal Black Preceptory Black Saturday demonstration on August 27, 2005, following a long tradition of local parades in Donegal.[41] They are associated with the County Londonderry District. In 2016, the County Londonderry Black Saturday parade was held once again in Raphoe.[42] Raphoe District Chapter No. 3 District leads the procession.[43]
The only Protestant-majority town in the Republic, Drum, in County Monaghan has a preceptory that holds town parades.[44]
Oceania
Grand Black Chapter of New Zealand
In New Zealand, there are eight preceptories, that are under the Provincial Grand Black Chapter of New Zealand.[45]
Royal Black Association of Australia
In Australia, there are seven preceptories under Royal Black Association of Australia. The preceptories one of the two provincial Chapters, known as the Provincial Grand Black Chapter of New South Wales and the Provincial Grand Black Chapter of Victoria.[46][47]
Grand Black Chapter of West Africa
In Africa, Black Chapters from Togo and Ghana report to the Grand Black Chapter of West Africa. Both of these countries have two preceptories.[9][48]
Degrees
The society's members are assigned one of eleven degrees,[49][50] as follows, in descending order:
- Royal Black Degree
- Royal Scarlet Degree
- Royal Mark Degree
- Apron and Royal Blue Degree
- Royal White Degree
- Royal Green Degree
- Gold Degree
- Star and Garter Degree
- Crimson Arrow Degree
- Link and Chain Degree
- Red Cross Degree
The Institution also possesses a final retrospective overview degree, which is essentially an overview of the eleven.
Sovereign Grand Masters
A chronological list of Sovereign Grand Masters of the Royal Black Preceptory:
- 1846: Thomas Irwin
- 1849: Morris Knox
- 1850: Thomas Johnston
- 1857: William Johnston
- 1902: H. W. Chambers
- 1914: William Henry Holmes Lyons
- 1924: Sir William James Allen
- 1948: Sir Norman Stronge, 8th Baronet
- 1971: Jim Molyneaux
- 1995: William J Logan
- 2008: Millar Farr
- 2018: William Anderson