Members wear identifying insignia on their uniforms, most notably the pocket flap that represents their individual lodge and the sash worn at official OA functions.

Additionally, "safeguarded” (privy only to members and legitimately interested adults) symbols and handshakes are used to impart a sense of community.

[6] It has foundations influenced by Freemasonry and previously used imagery commonly associated with American Indian cultures for its self-invented ceremonies.

[7][8] Its Freemason ties have also been source of debates, in spite of its systematic removal of masonic terminology in the 1930s to avoid offending religious groups.

The Order of the Arrow was started as a Camp Fraternity by E. Urner Goodman, newly assigned Director of Treasure Island Scout Reservation on the Delaware River and assistant Camp Director Carroll A. Edson under the name of Wimachtendienk Wingolauchsik Witahemui.

This was a requirement from the Boy Scouts of America who wished to not offend the religious groups that represented almost half of their charter organizations at the time and this needed to happen before the OA could be fully integrated in BSA.

That same year, it announced at the 1948 NOAC that the Order of the Arrow was integrated as an official part of Boy Scouts of America Program.

Professional and volunteer adults are appointed to non-voting advisory positions at the chapter, lodge, and section levels.

[18] Many lodges have standing committees responsible for ceremonies, service projects, publications, unit elections, camp promotions, and dance teams composed of youth members.

[21][22][23] It was written in 1921 by OA founder E. Urner Goodman to the Russian hymn tune "God Save the Tsar!"

[28] The Order of the Arrow sponsors service groups to the four National High Adventure Bases that focus on conservation.

Inspired by three gentlemen, Edward Pease, Eugene "Gene" Schnell and Marty Tschetter, who gathered at a leadership summit at Philmont Scout Ranch in 1979, the Order of the Arrow High Adventure program was established.

NLATS is a training event for adults, usually held in conjunction with an NLS and conducted by regions, on the role of advisers in the OA.

After successful pilots in 2016, the Developing Youth Leadership Conference curriculum began replacing NLATS in early 2017.

[31] Goodman and Edson, the founders of the Order of the Arrow, opted to portray what they saw as Native American characteristics "as a sign of scouting excellence",[32] and that the imagery, costuming, titles and imitation rituals "evoked a primitivist exterior Indian Other, vanished from the modern world but still accessible through ritual and its accompanying objects.

[32] In the later twentieth century and beyond, the Order of the Arrow has been protested and criticized for engaging in cultural appropriation[33][34][35][32] and spreading stereotypes of, and racism against, Native Americans.

[36][37] Protester concerns include OA's imitation of Native American ceremonies, regalia, and artwork they consider to be offensive.

"[40] She called the OA's use of headdresses, face paint, eagle feathers, and dancing with a pipe, "downright offensive".

After researching the OA and watching their ceremonies she said, "Use of these items by Boy Scouts indicates that there is very little understanding of the Native people they claim to admire and respect.

"[42] Simon Mayo-Smith, a journalist and citizen of the Oglala Lakota Nation explains the concern of using Native American Headpieces: “The headdress is reserved for our revered elders who, through their selflessness and leadership, have earned the right to wear one.

Wearing one, even an imitation headdress, belittles what our elders have spent a lifetime to earn.”[43] On July 23, 2018, the National Order of the Arrow Committee announced that they had received "many complaints surrounding these ceremonies from various American Indian tribes due to the manner in which they are conducted as well as the inconsistent nature in which they are performed.

"[44] In 2019, the rules were changed: "Scouts will no longer be allowed to dress up as 'Indians' and incorporate Native American motifs into two of the order's more important ceremonies", according to the Voice of America, which noted also that "in spite of complaints from tribes across the country, Scouts continue to dress in 'Redface,' a term some use to describe the wearing of feathers and warpaint by non-Native Americans.

"[7] In 2023, amid a backlash against stereotypes of Native Americans, the BSA held a survey among its members about whether to eliminate or alter the rituals, including those for the OA.

At that time, "only lodges that have a formal relationship established with a state or federally recognized tribe in their area may engage in American Indian programming."

In the 1930s, it underwent a replacement of the Masonic vocabulary to avoid offending religious groups, including the Catholic Church and some protestant denominations who have long-standing concerns with Freemasonry.

"[54] It also acknowledges that it was required to change this terminology in the 1930s: "As part of the agreement made by the OA National Executive Committee with the BSA to become an official part of the Boy Scout program the OA agreed to change certain terminology effective January 1, 1935 (although not disseminated to local lodges until April 23, 1935).

The term “Manitou” referring to a deity was completely eliminated from ceremonies, this being done to satisfy religious groups concerns.

If questions remain after this meeting, the adults will be permitted to read the current ceremony text used in the Ordeal to make an informed decision.

[57] This concern about Fraternities being cliques and excluding some had already been brought up back in 1922 before the Order of the Arrow was even part of Boy Scouts of America.

During the Second Biennial Conference of the Boy Scout Executives in the debate about secrets societies within BSA camps by Dr. Tinney of Little Rock, AR stated this: I happen to be an ex-fraternity man.