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Freemasonry Symbols: A Visual Glossary of Masonic Signs

The symbolic vocabulary of Freemasonry is one of the most distinctive in the world of fraternal orders. The square and compasses, the All-Seeing Eye, the working tools of the operative stonemason, and the architectural details of the Temple of Solomon have all been lifted out of their original context and used to make moral points. This page is a reference to the principal symbols, what they meant in the medieval building trade, what they came to mean in the speculative fraternity, and how they have been used (and misused) in the wider world.

For the historical and structural context, see the Freemasonry explained reference. For the meaning of the most iconic single emblem, see the All-Seeing Eye cluster page. For a broader look at the way symbol and ritual interact, see the symbols, rituals, and initiation pillar.

The Square and Compasses

The most widely recognized Masonic emblem is the square and compasses, which depict two of the working tools of the medieval stonemason: the square (a carpenter’s L-shaped tool used to check right angles) and the compasses (the two-legged dividers used to scribe arcs and circles).

In the Masonic moral allegory, the square is a symbol of morality, of the way the Masons are expected to “square their actions” with the rest of the world. The compasses, drawn with their legs in the open position, are a symbol of the boundary of the Masons’ conduct, the circle within which they agree to live. The two together are read as a summary of the Masonic moral program: regulate your actions by the square, and keep your conduct within the circle of the compasses.

The square and compasses appear on the official seal of the United Grand Lodge of England, on the rings of Master Masons, and on the front of most Masonic buildings in the world. The single most famous image of the emblem, the so-called “Compasses and Square with the letter G,” is treated below. For the place of the emblem in the Masonic ritual, see the degree rituals reference.

The Letter G

The single most discussed detail in the Masonic visual vocabulary is the letter G, which appears at the center of the square-and-compasses emblem in the most common form of the symbol. The letter has two standard readings:

  • Geometry — the science that, in the medieval liberal-arts tradition, was the foundation of the mason’s craft. The letter G is read as a reminder that geometry, in the Masonic tradition, is a holy science, the “noblest of sciences” because it is the basis of the moral allegory of the order.
  • God — in many American Masonic bodies, the letter is read as an abbreviation of the name of God, on the principle that the Masons “place God in the center” of the fraternity. The two readings are not in conflict: the point of the letter is to insist that geometry (and, by extension, the working life of the operative mason) is sanctified by the divine.

The letter G is one of the more controversial details in the Masonic visual vocabulary, and it is the single most common target of conspiracy-theory interpretations, which read the letter as an abbreviation of some other word (“Generational,” “Gnostic,” “Greed,” and so on). These readings are not supported by the order’s own documents.

The All-Seeing Eye

The All-Seeing Eye — a single eye, usually depicted within a triangle and surrounded by a glory of rays — is one of the older and more widely shared symbols in the Western religious and fraternal traditions. In Masonry, the eye is the symbol of the Great Architect of the Universe, the way the Masons refer to God without committing to a particular sectarian definition. The eye is read as a reminder that the Great Architect watches the Masons’ actions and judges them.

The All-Seeing Eye is also a Christian, Jewish, and Islamic symbol, and it appears in the official heraldry of many states and provinces, including the United States (on the Great Seal, and on the one-dollar bill), where it was a conventional emblem of divine providence in the eighteenth century. The full history of the symbol is treated in the Eye of Providence cluster page. For the way the symbol has been incorporated into modern conspiracy thinking, see the conspiracy theories and hidden power reference.

The Working Tools

The three Craft degrees of Freemasonry are each associated with a particular set of working tools, and each set is a moral lesson. The principal working tools are:

  • The 24-inch gauge — the Masonic symbol of the way the working day is divided. The gauge is divided into 24 parts, and the candidate is taught to divide the working day into 8 hours of labor, 8 hours of rest, and 8 hours of service to the fraternity. The lesson is the moral economy of time.
  • The common gavel — the working tool of the Entered Apprentice, used to break off the rough edges of a stone. The candidate is taught to use the gavel to “knock off the rough corners” of his own character. The lesson is self-discipline.
  • The chisel — the working tool of the Fellowcraft, used to finish the stone. The lesson is the gradual refinement of the moral character.
  • The trowel — the working tool of the Master Mason, used to spread the cement that binds the stones of the building together. The lesson is the moral cement that binds the fraternity.
  • The level — the working tool of the Senior Warden, used to lay horizontal lines. The lesson is the equality of all Masons before the great level of mortality.
  • The plumb — the working tool of the Junior Warden, used to lay vertical lines. The lesson is the uprightness of conduct expected of the Mason.
  • The square — the working tool of the Worshipful Master, used to test the squareness of the building. The lesson is the squaring of actions with the moral law.

The working tools of the Craft degrees are, in turn, supplemented by the working tools of the higher degrees, the most important of which is the sword of the Knight Templar (the Templar Knight’s Sword of the York Rite), the helmet of the Knight of the Sun (Scottish Rite), and the dagger of the Knight of Kadosh (Scottish Rite).

The Rough and Perfect Ashlars

Two stones are central to the Masonic symbolism of moral development:

  • The rough ashlar — the unworked stone as it comes from the quarry. The rough ashlar is the symbol of the human being in his natural state: unrefined, full of superfluous and irregular projections, needing to be worked before he can take his place in the moral building.
  • The perfect ashlar — the stone that has been squared, tested, and accepted for use in the building. The perfect ashlar is the symbol of the human being who has been educated, refined, and made fit for moral and civic use.

The two ashlars are a pair, and the Masons are taught to regard the labor of their own education as a long, slow approximation of the rough to the perfect ashlar.

The Acacia

The acacia is the tree under which, in the legend of the Third Degree, the body of Hiram Abiff was found after his murder. The acacia is, accordingly, the Masonic symbol of the immortality of the soul, the way the tree continues to grow after it has been cut. The acacia also serves as a reminder of the moral lesson of the Hiram legend, which is the primacy of fidelity to obligation.

In the ritual of the Third Degree, a sprig of acacia is laid on the coffin of the candidate, who is then “raised” to the degree of Master Mason. The use of the acacia is one of the few specific symbols of the Masonic ritual that is not borrowed from the working life of the medieval stonemason.

The Pillars Boaz and Jachin

Two great pillars, named Boaz and Jachin, are described in the biblical account of the Temple of Solomon as standing at the porch of the temple, one on each side of the entrance. The names mean “in strength” (Boaz) and “he shall establish” (Jachin), and they are read in the Masonic tradition as a symbol of the strength and stability of the fraternity.

The pillars are represented in the Masonic lodge by two columns, typically at the entrances to the Junior and Senior Wardens’ stations, and they are the central image of the Royal Arch degree of the York Rite. The symbolism of the pillars is one of the few that is directly biblical in origin.

The 47th Problem of Euclid

The 47th Problem of Euclid — the so-called Pythagorean theorem, that the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides — is one of the more memorable symbols of the Masonic tradition, even though it has no direct equivalent in the working life of a medieval stonemason.

The theorem is read as a moral lesson of the same kind as the square and compasses: the way the moral life is held in the proper balance between the two great dimensions of the human being (in the popular telling, the spiritual and the material). The 47th Problem is also one of the more popular “open” Masonic emblems, and it is often displayed on a pendant worn by the Master of the lodge.

The Beehive

The beehive is the Masonic symbol of industry, the way the working bees cooperate in a common task. The beehive is also read as a symbol of the Masons’ relation to one another, the way each member is expected to play a productive role in the larger life of the fraternity.

The beehive is one of the older Masonic emblems, and it appears in the early “tracing boards” of the eighteenth century.

The Ladder

The ladder — typically depicted with three, five, or seven rungs — is the Masonic symbol of the moral ascent of the soul. The most common reading, of three rungs, is the cardinal virtues of Faith, Hope, and Charity. The five-rung reading, of Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence, Justice, and the reward of a well-spent life, is also common.

The ladder is most prominently featured in the Master’s Carpet of the Mark degree, and it appears in the Masonic aprons of higher degrees.

Other Common Symbols

A small number of additional symbols round out the Masonic visual vocabulary:

  • The all-seeing eye, treated above.
  • The sun, the moon, and the seven stars — a reference to the lodge as a representation of the cosmos.
  • The ark and the rainbow — a reminder of the Old Testament covenant.
  • The anchor and the ark — a symbol of the well-grounded hope of the Masonic fraternity.
  • The hourglass — a symbol of the passage of time and the brevity of life.
  • The scythe and the sickle — a symbol of the harvest of the moral life.
  • The spade and the coffin — a symbol of mortality and the burial of the dead.
  • The sword pointing to a naked heart — a symbol of the moral judgment that awaits the false Mason.

For the broader history of these symbols in the fraternal orders of the Western tradition, see the fraternal orders and lodges pillar and the secret handshakes and signs cluster page.

Sources and Further Reading

The standard reference is the Coil’s Masonic Encyclopedia (William R. Denslow, 1961, reprinted 1996), still the most comprehensive single-volume reference. For the scholarly treatment, the relevant works are Margaret Jacob, Living the Enlightenment (1991) and David Stevenson, The Origins of Freemasonry (1988). For the operative-stonemason origin of the symbols, the standard source is the corpus of medieval Old Charges manuscripts, with the most comprehensive modern edition in Douglas Knoop and G.P. Jones, The Genesis of Freemasonry (1949). For the Eye of Providence in particular, see the relevant section in the Eye of Providence cluster and Bernd H. Hensel, “The All-Seeing Eye” in Material Religion (2015).

The Eye of Providence cluster, Freemasonry explained, Freemason degree rituals explained, secret handshakes and signs, and hidden symbols in architecture cover the surrounding context.