<Li> United Kingdom (mainly Northern Ireland and Scotland); Republic of Ireland; Canada; Australia; New Zealand; other Commonwealth countries </Li> <Tr> <Th> Grand Master </Th> <Td> Edward Stevenson </Td> </Tr> <P> The Loyal Orange Institution, more commonly known as the Orange Order, is a Protestant fraternal order based primarily in Northern Ireland . It also has lodges in the Republic of Ireland, a Grand Orange Lodge in the Scottish Lowlands and other lodges throughout the Commonwealth, as well as in the United States and Togo . The Orange Order was founded in County Armagh in 1795, during a period of Protestant--Catholic sectarian conflict, as a Masonic - style fraternity sworn to maintain the Protestant Ascendancy . It is headed by the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, which was 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'). </P> <P> The Orange Order is a conservative British unionist organisation with links to Ulster loyalism . It campaigned against Scottish independence in 2014 . The Order sees itself as defending Protestant civil and religious liberties, whilst critics accuse the Order of being sectarian, triumphalist, and supremacist . It has also been criticised for associating with loyalist paramilitary groups . As a strict 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 . Although most Orange marches are without incident, marches through mainly Catholic and Irish nationalist neighbourhoods are controversial and have often led to violence . </P>

Member of ireland society founded in 1795 to uphold protestant religion