The cards are issued by the various Grand Lodges to indicate that the holder has demonstrated word-perfect proficiency in specific parts of the ritual for that jurisdiction. Texas, for example certifies in increasing order of the volume of work, C, B, and A-level proficiencies. Arkansas has four certifications: Certified Lecturer (white card; the three proficiency lectures for the degrees), Officer Proficiency (white card, opening and closing the lodge in all degrees, plus dispensing & resuming); Second Section, Masters Degree (red card; all parts & floorwork for the 2nd section of the Masters), and Certified Instructor (blue card; all the above, plus all parts in conferring all three degrees, second section of the EA; and demonstrated proficiency/working knowledge of the 3rd section EA, 2nd Section Fellowcraft, and the third section/emblems of the Masters). All together, about 35,000 words or so for the red and blue cards together.
Arkansas is one of those places where there is no cipher or written version of the work other than what is printed in the Monitor, so this is their procedure to ensure that the Work is passed down correctly through the years, mouth-to-ear, via the Grand Lecturer, designated custodians, and the certified instructors.