In 1921, the Grand Lodge of the Order of the Arrow was formed, with organizational meetings being held on an annual basis. By 1926, it was decided to move to bi-annual meetings "with regional groupings of lodges meeting in intervening years". Delegates elected "regional" officers, inducted Vigil Honor candidates, and discussed methods of strengthening the program at the local lodge level.

A year later the OA was one of four programs* sanctioned as official experiments by the BSA. In 1934, the OA had been approved by National Council for use in all councils. Over the next fourteen years more councils adopted the OA, and standardization of methods and procedures were made towards permanent incorporation in the Scouting program.

In 1938, National Chief (i.e., National Committee Chairman) Joseph Brunton appointed professional scouters to oversee field operations and assist local lodges within 15 numbered geographic areas. They were also urged to set up "fellowship meetings" among local lodges in each of their areas. Two years later, these areas were re-named A-O. By 1945, because of the growth of the Order following World War II, the number of areas expanded to 26 and were designated A-Z.

In 1948, the OA became fully integrated into the program of the BSA and its twenty-six areas were revised to correspond to the twelve Scouting regions. 1949 was a transition year, with some areas holding final events while others adopted the new region-area alignment.