The current Ancient and Masonic Order of the Scarlet Cord is a descendant of the Royal Order of Knights of the Scarlet Cord, which was developed in the British Isles in 1889 with an inextricable link with the OSM Benevolent Fund. 

It flourished until 1929 when it fell into abeyance. It was resurrected by M. Wy. Bro. Peter Glyn Williams, the then Grand Supreme Ruler of the OSM and thus custodian of the Order of the Scarlet Cord in 2006. A Secret Monitor Conclave was Consecrated with the sole purpose of reviving the old Order and conferring updated versions of the original six grades, some of which only remained in fragmented form. A huge appetite for the grades (Ostiarius, Lector, Fellow, Councillor, Keeper of the Hidden Secret and Prince of Jerusalem) among Secret Monitors led to the Order being inaugurated as a separate Sovereign body in a magnificent ceremony in the Grand Temple at Freemasons’ Hall on 21 July 2010. 

Today, the qualification for membership of the Order is that of being a subscribing Prince in the Order of the Secret Monitor.