The Orange Institution (more commonly known as the Orange Order, the Orange Lodge or the Orangemen) is a Protestant fraternal organisation based in Northern Ireland. Founded in 1796 near the village of Loughgall in County Armagh, its name is a tribute to the Dutch-born Protestant King of England, Ireland and Scotland William of Orange, who defeated the army of Catholic James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Although based in Northern Ireland, the Institution also has a significant presence in lowland Scotland and lodges throughout the Commonwealth and United States.
Politically, the Orange Order is strongly linked to unionism. Critics have accused the Order of being sectarian, triumphalist and supremacist. As a Protestant society, non-Protestants cannot become members. Catholics, and those whose close relatives are Catholic, are banned from becoming members.
Read more about Orange Order: History, Requirements For Entry, Structure, Throughout The World, 'Diamond Dan'
Famous quotes containing the words orange and/or order:
“I’d take the bus downtown with my mother, and the big thing was to sit at the counter and get an orange drink and a tuna sandwich on toast. I thought I was living large!... When I was at the Ritz with the publisher a few months ago, I did think, “Oh my God, I’m in the Ritz tearoom.” ... The person who was so happy to sit at the Woolworths counter is now sitting at the Ritz, listening to the harp, and wondering what tea to order.... [ellipsis in source] Am I awake?”
—Connie Porter (b. 1959)
“The sick man is taken away by the institution that takes charge not of the individual, but of his illness, an isolated object transformed or eliminated by technicians devoted to the defense of health the way others are attached to the defense of law and order or tidiness.”
—Michel de Certeau (1925–1986)