From the late teens until 1948, Grand Lodge / National Lodge issued sashes or bands were made of wool felt with wool felt arrows sewn onto the sash. Over the years because of a variety of manufacturers, the width of the sash and length of the sash varied. The same happened with the shape of the arrows sewn onto the sashes. The snaps also varied.

In 1948, the sashes underwent a change and there was more uniformity in the sashes, arrows, and snaps. The sash material remained the wool-felt composition, but the arrows were silk-screened flocked onto the sash. The flocking of crushed felt used in the silk-screen process left a fuzzy textured arrow.

In 1955, the National OA Committee changed from the wool felt sash and the silk-screened arrow to a twill material sash with the arrow embroidered onto the twill material. The sash had two plies of material. The top ply had the arrow embroidered onto it and the bottom ply was a backing. The two plies were sewn together with a double tracking of thread that resembled a train track.