How does the symbolism of colours in Freemasonry reflect its teachings?

Blue is the primary tincture of the three Craft degrees, chosen to represent universal friendship and benevolence 1. Because blue is the colour of the vault of heaven, it serves as a visual reminder that a Mason's charity and virtue should extend as widely as the sky that covers the globe 1. Within the lodge, blue and white are the primary colours authorized for decorations and clothing 1.

W. L. Wilmshurst reads the varying shades of blue on Masonic aprons as an emblem of spiritual progress: junior brethren wear a light sky-blue fringe, while senior Grand Lodge officers wear a deep azure, marking a theoretical intensification of spiritual development 2.

Gold and yellow also feature in Craft symbolism. Early Irish ritual traditions and Grand Lodge regalia paired yellow and blue as an emblem of the compasses, where yellow represented the body of the tool and blue signified its steel points 1. Wilmshurst similarly interprets the gold lace on senior officers' aprons as a symbol of the divine life-essence becoming substantialized within the soul 2.

In English jurisdiction, Grand Officers and Provincial Grand Officers wear purple collars and aprons, earning them the traditional designation of purple brethren 1. Formed by the complementary blending of blue and red, purple is held by Arthur Edward Waite to signify union 3, while Albert C. Mackey notes its historical association with constancy and supreme authority 1.