Not to niggle an old tooth or anything, but fellow Knights Templar take note: our friends in the Knights of Columbus have made the decision at long last to make a major change to their Fourth Degree 'Patriotic Degree' dress uniforms (photo above). The KofC got sold essentially the same uniform that we did over a century ago based on Civil War-era military patterns with the incongruous naval-influenced 'fore-and-aft' chapeaux, complete with ostrich plume (known derisively in some circles as the "chicken hats"), along with similar ceremonial swords, just perfect for marching in drill team formations. In many cases, with the exception of different colored plumes and the addition of a cape, the KofC uniform looks from a distance virtually identical to the primary 'Class A' uniform worn in the majority of U.S. Knights Templar Commanderies.
Knights of Columbus
Knights Templar
Well, it seems the KofC has finally decided it's time to move on from the feathery past, give up their chapeaux, and adopt an all new look. And it sounds like the internal bickering is already raging, with a VERY familiar ring to it. Sounds remarkably like Masons...
From the Catholic Sun on 8/2/17:
The Knights of Columbus, long associated with swords, capes and chapeaus, will be going through a significant uniform change.
The traditional regalia worn by the Knights’ Fourth Degree members will be replaced, announced Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson during the Knights of Columbus 135th Supreme Convention being held in St. Louis Aug. 1. The address was available via livestream on EWTN.
In place of a tuxedo with a black bow tie, members will be wearing a blue blazer, an official Knights of Columbus tie and a beret, all with the Fourth Degree emblem on them, along with a white shirt and dark gray slacks. There was no mention as to whether the swords would remain a part of the uniform.
“The Board of Directors has decided that the time is right for a modernization of the Fourth Degree Uniform,” Anderson said. “On a limited basis, Assemblies may choose to continue using the traditional cape and chapeau for Color Corps at public events and Honor Guards in Liturgical Processions. However the preferred dress for the Fourth Degree, including Color Corps and Honor Guards, is the new Uniform of jacket and beret.”
Throughout the years, the regalia of the Fourth Degree, known as the patriotic degree, has gone through changes, Anderson said. When the Fourth Degree was first established, the uniform included white ties, top hats and tails.
Robert Earl, a member of Father Novatus Assembly 23, which serves Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. Daniel the Prophet parishes in Scottsdale, welcomes the new changes.
“I feel it is significant that the Order changes to respond to changing times. The new uniform evokes an image of elite military corpsmen in my mind, and I believe this is the intent behind the change,” Earl said.
“Our former regalia was reminiscent of Navy officers and consistent with the nautical theme in the Patriotic degree, but it perhaps did not have currency in the minds of the general public,” he added, noting that in addition to the tuxedo, the other items collectively could cost approximately $500. “I think the new uniform creates a positive and striking image of ‘soldiers for Christ,’ which is, after all, what we are meant to be.”
Many members are not as thrilled about the pending changes which has generated some controversy among the membership. Joseph Meyer from Msgr. Bernard G. Collins Assembly 2899, which serves St. Bridget and Christ the King parishes in Mesa, said the new uniforms lose a sense of the pageantry associated with the Fourth Degree.
“I have been a Fourth Degree knight since 1978 and we have always had this regalia,” said Meyer, who was a color corps commander in Toledo, Ohio for 13 years before moving to Arizona. “We all looked great in the Fourth Degree outfits. These [new] outfits look bad.”
Meyer also expressed concern for members who own the current uniform and have to spend money on the new one.
“If we get a new uniform like this you will see a lot of knights leave the degree. A lot of your knights are retired and don’t have over $500 to spend,” he said.
Paul Lee, a member of the Iowa delegation who spoke to The Catholic Sun from St. Louis, said the reaction on the ground was “mixed.”In the 1870s and 80s, the old military uniform companies realized they were all out of a lucrative gig once the armies were largely sent home, and sent their salesmen forth into the hills, hinterlands, and cities to dig up new business. Either through deliberate coaxing or by happy accident, the war veterans and their sons were hankering for a whole new fad in fraternalism: the marching drill team. The Grand Army of the Republic didn't need any coaxing to jump back into uniform, and the Masons had the Knights Templar—we just needed some tinkering with our former outfits (then white suits and black, triangular memento mori aprons) to add swords and make it more military-esque; the Odd Fellows invented their Partiarchs Militant; both the Knights of Pythias and the Knights of the Macabees each developed their Uniformed Rank. And the Prince Hall Affiliated Knights Templar teams followed the same practice.
“The largest concern is people don’t feel that they have answers for the question of why the need for the change. They want something beyond a more modern look,” said Lee.
Lee said many members he’s interacted with are excited about the changes because it brings the uniform “more in line with other military service organizations because it connects us as patriotic organizations.” There are also members who “don’t like change, so they’re already up in arms.
Knights of Macabees Uniformed Rank
Odd Fellows Patriarchs Militant
Knights of Pythias Uniformed Rank
Prince Hall Affiliated Knights Templar
The Red Men had a problem going all martial, since their highest degree, the Chieftan, literally culminated with "burying the hatchet," making it tough to rationalize the whole "carrying swords" business in a parade... but rationalize they did, and created their Chieftan's League drill teams. (Somebody send me a good photo - I can't track one down.)
The Forester's Team of the Modern Woodmen of America
The Modern Woodmen of America decided to ditch the moldy, old army uniforms, navy hats and swords, dressed their teams instead as forestry workers, and drilled in formation with long-handled axes. And so on...
Knights of Columbus Fourth Degree Team
The Catholic Knights of Columbus were late climbing on board the 'marching in fraternal formation' train, and didn't get around to developing their Fourth Degree with its patriotic theme and matching drill teams until around 1898 or so. But that didn't stop them from buying out of the very same supply houses and ostrich plume farms. A couple of decades later, they made an alteration in the actual uniform itself by ditching the Civil War-era long coats and replacing them with simple tuxedos, white shirt, and black bowties, with colored sashes. It at least cut down on the expense a bit, since tuxes can be had for $99 online or from Kohl's these days. Now that they are abandoning their longtime uniform altogether, I think that might leave only our Masonic-derived Knights Templar Commanderies who still wear the Class A style, and not all of them do.
Raper Commandery No. 1, Knights Templar, Indianapolis
But for effect, we also occasionally go totally old school...
Levant Preceptory of Raper Commandery 1
