Orange Order

The Loyal Orange Institution, more commonly known as the Orange Order, is a Protestant fraternal organization based primarily in Northern Ireland.

It also has a significant presence in the Scottish Lowlands and lodges throughout the Commonwealth, as well as in the United States and Togo.

The Orange Order is founded in County Armagh in 1795, during a period of Protestant–Catholic sectarian conflict, as a Masonic-style brotherhood sworn to maintain the Protestant Ascendancy

It is headed by the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, which is established in 1798.

Its name is a tribute to the Dutch-born Protestant king William of Orange, who defeated the army of Catholic king James II in the Williamite–Jacobite War (1688–1691).

Its members wear orange sashes and are referred to as Orangemen.

The Order is best known for its yearly marches, the biggest of which are held on or around 12 July ('The Twelfth').

The Orange Order is a conservative British unionist organization with links to Ulster loyalism

It campaigns against Scottish independence in 2014.

The Order sees itself as defending Protestant civil and religious liberties, while critics accuse the Order of being sectarian, triumphalist, and supremacist.

It has also been criticized for associating with loyalist paramilitary groups.

As a Protestant society, it does not accept non-Protestants as members unless they convert and adhere to the principles of Orangeism, nor does it accept Protestants married to Catholics.

Orange marches through mainly Catholic and nationalist neighborhoods in Northern Ireland are controversial and have often led to violence.