HISTORY OF THE FOURTH DEGREE The Fourth Degree of the Knights of Columbus was formed in 1899 as the patriotic degree of the Order. The degree was intended to tell those Protestants, who believed that Catholics first allegiance was to the pope in Rome and not to their American citizenship, that such a belief was totally false. Thus Fourth Degree members participated in patriotic activities, and marched in public parades in their uniforms of formal Prince Albert suits, top hats, a scabbard sword held in place with a baldric emblazoned with red and blue stripes on white background to demonstrate publicly, their primary allegiance to this country. The sword symbolized allegiance.