A Deputy of the Supreme Council is a 33° Mason who leads the Scottish Rite in an Orient (broadly, a state) of the Southern Jurisdiction where there is no active member of the Supreme Council. It is an office rather than a separate degree: the Deputy acts for the Supreme Council in his Orient, and he wears a white cap with a scarlet band.
White Cap with Scarlet Band
The office
The Supreme Council for the Southern Jurisdiction has no more than 33 active members. Each is a Sovereign Grand Inspector General and normally heads the Rite in his own Orient. Because the Jurisdiction covers more Orients than there are active members, the remaining Orients are led by Deputies of the Supreme Council.
A Deputy is appointed by the Sovereign Grand Commander and holds office at his pleasure. Within his Orient he leads the Rite in the place a Sovereign Grand Inspector General would otherwise fill, but he is not a member of the Supreme Council and has no vote in it.
The cap
The Deputy’s cap is one of the eight official caps listed in the Supreme Council’s statutes. It is round and made of white silk, circled by a scarlet band trimmed with gold, with a gold cord across the top fixed at each side by a gold button embossed with a double-headed eagle. On the front is a slanted red patriarchal cross, a cross with two bars, edged in gold bullion wire. The two-barred cross echoes the symbol that, by long custom, a 33° Mason places before his signature.
Sources:
– The Supreme Council, 33°, S.J., “What is the significance of the Scottish Rite cap?” (official caps, Statutes Art. XIII §§15–22).
– Wikipedia, “Supreme Council, Scottish Rite (Southern Jurisdiction, USA)” and “Scottish Rite” (Southern Jurisdiction).
– Albert G. Mackey, Encyclopedia of Freemasonry, entries “Abbreviations” and “Characteristics” (signature symbols).
– Nashville Scottish Rite, “Scottish Rite Hats”: https://www.nashvillescottishrite.org/?p=84