The Royal Arch Purple degree was practised in secrecy for a period after the Grand Lodge (in Dublin) deemed the degree illegal, however it was kept alive by the Lodges around County Armagh as it was the system of 'travel' closest to the original ritual put together by the founding members of the Orange Order in 1795.
[2] It was re-constituted in 1911,[3] with the explicit intentions of promoting the Reformed Faith,[4] Charity amongst all men[4] and maintaining historic Orangeism.
[7] Some claim it is of Masonic origin ; The "Diamond Boys" from North Armagh - Sloan, Winter and Wilson from the neighbouring Dyan in County Tyrone were all Freemasons.
To be a Royal Arch Purpleman, one must be a professing reformed Christian, sober and temperate, not prone to cursing or swearing, and a faithful attender in his Church.
Marksman for example within the Royal Arch Purple refers to the Israelites who marked the location of the Ark of the Covenant.