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Freemasonry Speaks in Symbols— And It Also Speaks in Stone

Read more in the latest feature of California Freemason

From the earliest days, Masons have looked to the built world not just for shelter, but for meaning.

Sacred geometry shows us that every well-proportioned structure isn’t an accident but an intention of harmony. As Masons, we are called to apply those same principles within ourselves—act upon the square, level our relationships, and erect a moral edifice that reflects integrity and purpose.

Our lodges and halls echo that same truth. Once you start looking, they’re everywhere: a square and compass above a doorway, a mural glowing with symbolism, a lodge rising quietly on a city street. As our strategic plan advances, preserving and activating these spaces becomes a powerful way to live our values in the communities we serve.

In an age that often feels fragmented, sacred geometry reminds us that design and meaning still matter. Like the finest architecture, may we stand as reflections of order, strength, and harmony.

Learn About Freemasonry Symbols

Learn more about Freemasonry at: freemason.org/freemasonry-symbols

 

An introduction to the symbols, signs, and emblems of Masons and Masonic lodges.

Maybe you’ve heard rumors about the “Freemason pyramid” on the dollar bill, seen the square and compass logo on buildings around town, or wondered about the meaning of emblems like the Masonic trowel. What’s the history behind Masonic symbols, and how do they factor into what happens in a lodge?

Why Does Masonry Use Symbols?

From soaring architecture to dime-sized lapel pins, symbols adorn every part of the Masonic experience. Why? Symbols allow people to communicate quickly, and to transcend language barriers. When you see a green light or a circle with a line through it, you know what it means. Likewise, Masons use metaphors from geometry and the architecture of stonemasonry to inform their continuing pursuit of knowledge, ethics, and leadership skills.

From the Square and Compass to the Letter G: The Meaning of Masonic Emblems

When speculative Masonry began in the 17th century, it adopted the stonemason’s tools as symbols to illustrate life lessons. Freemasonry’s symbols today remain remarkably true to the first stonemasons’ working tools.

Here are some of the best-known Masonic symbols:

  • Apron: Known as the “unique badge of a Mason,” the apron is the most recognizable item of a Mason’s attire. Masons wear aprons while at lodge, and at certain public events. The tradition dates back to the fraternity’s operative days, when stonemasons wore protective work aprons.
  • Square and Compass: The Masonic square and compass is probably the most common symbol in Masonry, used to represent Freemasons and Masonic lodges around the world. Ancient stonemasons used the tools to create 90-degree angles and test the accuracy of their stones. In “speculative” Masonry, the square is an emblem of morality. The compass represents the relationship between the individual and society.
  • The Letter G: The letter G is often seen in the center of the square and compass symbol. It stands for geometry, the basis for stonemasonry—and, symbolically, for modern Freemasonry.
  • Plumb and Level: In stonemasonry, the plumb and level ensure surfaces are vertically and horizontally flush. For today’s Freemasons, the plumb is a symbol of justice, rectitude, and the importance of living in an upright manner, while the level is a reminder that all men are equal. You may have heard the phrase, “To meet on the level and part on the square.” That’s where it comes from!
  • Trowel: One of a stonemason’s most important working tools is the trowel, used to spread mortar that binds stones together. In Freemasonry, the trowel is used to spread the “cement” of brotherly love to unite a sacred band or society of friends.
  • Rough and Perfect Ashlars: The ashlars are two stone cubes placed near the master’s platform in the lodge; one is rough-edged, delivered straight from the quarry; the other is smooth and ready for building. The rough ashlar represents man in his crude form, while the perfect ashlar represents the man, who, through the teachings of Masonry, has become more polished. We never become a perfect ashlar, but we work toward it.
  • Columns: Every Masonic lodge has representations of two pillars, replicas of the two columns that flanked the entrance to King Solomon’s temple. The pillars are said to represent strength and establishment.
  • Winding Staircase: The winding staircase is another symbol inspired by King Solomon’s temple, referring to the steps leading from the entryway to the middle chamber of the temple. It’s an allegory for a member’s progress from Entered Apprentice to Fellow Craft.
  • Other Masonic symbols include: The beehive, the acacia tree, the 47th Problem of Euclid, the Ark of the Covenant, the anchor, cable tow, sheaf of corn, gavel, and blazing star. Here’s a resource explaining some less-well-known Freemasonry symbols.

What’s the “Freemason Pyramid?”

Hollywood blockbusters like National Treasure and bestsellers like Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol have done much to sensationalize Freemasonry’s symbols. A lot of the time, they contain more fiction than fact.

Take, for example, the image of the eye and the pyramid on the dollar bill. The pyramid does not appear in regular Masonic ritual or symbolism. The all-seeing eye, sometimes called the eye of providence, is used by Masons to represent the omniscient eye of God. But in the 18th century, when the U.S. was designing its Great Seal, the symbol was common among non-Masonic groups, too.

So what should we make of the rumors that Masons designed the dollar bill, or that the Great Seal of the United States is a Masonic emblem? They’re false, and false. According to Masonic historian S. Brent Morris, the only known Mason on the design committee was Benjamin Franklin, and his ideas didn’t make it into the final design. Artist Pierre Du Simitiere, a non-Mason, contributed the design for the eye. Another non-Mason, Francis Hopkinson, contributed the pyramid.

Further Reading

Check out California Freemason Magazine’s special issue devoted to The Lost Symbol.

Spring Issue of California Freemason: Masonic Style

Personal style speaks volumes about the person you are, and Masons across California have style in spades. In the new issue of California Freemason, feast your eyes on the many ways lodges express their Masonic pride. Some draw from local history, the spirit of their hometown, or even pop culture references. Others reflect shared heritage or the unique backgrounds of the brothers who gather there.

Whether it’s Highland tartan, Gold Rush-era attire, blue-collar workwear, leather jackets patched with miles of road, style is a connecting thread that ties individuals to something bigger—our communities, our histories, and the enduring legacy of the Craft itself. This inspired collection of lodge looks prove the square and compasses over our hearts unite us in ways that will always be in style.

Digging Up the Past at a Masonic Cemetery

This year, the Grand Lodge of California is working to uncover more local history contained within the small Jamestown Masonic Cemetery. Built in 1854, it served the membership of St. James № 54 until 1875, when the lodge disbanded. Today it’s one of two GoldRush-era cemeteries owned by Grand Lodge, which has set out to clean up and make repairs to the site, and to catalogue all known and unknown remains there.
So far, the effort has included using a canine forensic team to locate unmarked burials, developing boundary and topographical reports, and engaging a team of researchers to dig up the stories behind the burials including the mausoleum of John Pereira, one of Jamestown’s leading figures.
An early miner in the area, he later distinguished himself as an orchard owner, winemaker, and a real estate magnate. He built the Jamestown Hotel, where President McKinley once stayed, and helped establish the Sierra Railway depot, transforming Jamestown from a humble mining camp into a proper little city.

Masons and Nonprofit Partners Celebrate Collaboration

WATCH THE VIDEO

Last week, the California Masonic Foundation joined educators, youth‑serving nonprofits, and community leaders at the San Francisco Community Partners Reception at Oracle Park.

Together, we celebrated the power of collaboration and explored new ways to support students, strengthen local schools, and expand opportunities across our communities. Moments like these remind us why partnership matters. When organizations committed to education and community well‑being come together, we can create meaningful impact.

WATCH THE VIDEO

Read the 2025 Fraternity Report

Read more in the 2025 Fraternity Report

The past year marks a turning point for the Masons of California.

For the first time in 60 years, our statewide membership grew by 647 brothers. That growth didn’t happen by accident. It reflects intentional change, stronger lodges, and a renewed commitment to meaningful relationships and purposeful work. Through the Keystone Initiative, our multi-year roadmap, we’re reshaping how we lead, gather, and serve.

In the 2025 Fraternity Report, you’ll see:

🔹 Clearer officer roles, stronger mentorship, and tools like #LodgeCraft reducing routine business so lodges can focus on real #MasonicEducation and conversation

🔹 Eight new lodges constituted in 2025, part of the most active period of lodge creation in a century

🔹 Practical support for halls and finances, from building assessments to simplified accounting and improved dues collection

🔹 #MasonryInAction, from Masonic Outreach Services responding to the Los Angeles wildfires, to expanded eligibility at the Masonic Homes, to new statewide partnerships through the California Masonic Foundation Strong lodges.

Cared-for members. Vibrant communities. Each reinforces the other — and when we invest in all three, Freemasonry thrives. As we enter our 176th year, the 2025 Fraternity Report is both a record of progress and a preview of what’s ahead.

Read more in the 2025 Fraternity Report

 

Fall Issue of California Freemason: Masonic San Francisco

Read the Fall Issue of California Freemason

Masonry has played a crucial role in almost every stage of San Francisco’s development—from its earliest days as a remote Mexican settlement through the Gold Rush era, the 1906 earthquake, and its growth into a cultural, political, technological mecca.

Consider: Practically every one of the boldface names associated with the founding and growth of city was a Mason. So too were many of its great builders, along with its financial tycoons and political leaders. Before San Francisco had a proper City Hall, it had 14 Masonic lodges—including one working in French. By 1860, just a decade after the Gold Rush began, there were nearly 1,000 Masons working under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of California in the “instant city.” In that way, Masonry has had a massive influence on San Francisco, from its attitudes to its laws to its physical layout.

Fast-forward 170-something years, and the city is still the place where the echoes of Masonic history ring loudest.

Read more about the history of Masonry in San Francisco in the latest issue of California Freemason Magazine.

Unpacking Masonry’s Relationship to the Great Architect

Questions abound about Masonry and religion. Unpacking Masonry’s relationship to God, the church, and the Supreme Architect of the Universe.

Is Freemasonry a religion? What religion are Masons? Can Catholics be Masons? What’s the Masonic bible? Are Mormons Masons? What’s the deal between Freemasonry and Catholicism? Questions about the relationship between Masonry and religion are among the most frequent inquiries we receive.

The question of the connection between Freemasonry and religion is not an easy topic to tackle. On the one hand, Masons are adamant that Freemasonry is not a religion, and not a substitute for religion. It encourages its members to be active in their own faith community but does not favor or promote any particular faith.

On the other hand, Freemasonry requires that all its members have a belief in a God. It begins and ends its meetings with prayer. Members take their promises as Masons on sacred book, often a Masonic Bible. Its rituals have frequent references to God. Their meeting places are often called Masonic temples. So if it isn’t a religion, why is religion such a feature of Freemasonry?

The History of Masonry and Religion— and Why Any Religion Can Be a Mason

It would be easy just to say that requiring a belief in God is a part of our Masonic heritage, and a part of the fabric of Freemasonry. It is, but it is also something more.

The Judeo-Christian tradition was a crucial influence in the early days of modern Freemasonry. That can be seen in the many references to Christian religious iconography in its ritual, from the story of Solomon’s Temple to St. John the Baptist (one of two patron saints of Freemasonry), and the bible as one of the “three great lights” of Masonry.

When the first Grand Lodge was organized in London in 1717, its leaders asked one of its prominent members, a Presbyterian minister named James Anderson, to write a set of rules to govern the new society, called “charges.” His “Six Charges” became the standard interpretation of the craft and still remain an important source for understanding the fundamental principles of our institution.

His first charge, “Concerning God and Religion,” was probably the most important. It read, “But though in ancient Times Masons were charg’d in every Country to be of the Religion of that Country or Nation, ’tis now thought more expedient to oblige them [Masons] to that Religion in which all Men agree, leaving the particular Opinions to themselves; that is, to be good Men and true, or Men of Honour and Honesty, by whatever Denominations or Persuasions they may be distinguish’d…”

In other words, the fraternity would not be divided by religious differences.

Are Masons Christian?

As we’ve seen, Anderson’s careful language started a new chapter in Freemasonry—one of religious tolerance, and one that that stated plainly that the fraternity was open to men of any faith. (Although they had to be men of some faith.)

While Masonry is and has always been open to men of all religions, 18th century Britain was a predominantly Christian world. Historian David Hackett has written that while Anderon’s First Charge was a radical change, he was probably thinking more about uniting Unitarians, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Anglicans, and Catholics—in other words, various Christian denominations.

As a result, Masonic rituals retain many elements and symbols of Christianity. Perhaps most important is the fundamental mythology of Freemasonry, the Biblical story of the building of King Solomon’s Temple. Even today, Freemasonry bears the marks of the era in which it was founded.

That said, Masons today belong to practically all world religions. People of Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, and many other faiths are welcomed as members.

Why Is St. John the Patron Saint of Freemasonry?

Freemasonry has two patron saints: St. John the Evangelist and St. John the Baptist.

The reasons for this connection go back centuries—and remain shrouded in mystery. What we know for certain is that it isn’t strange that during the Middle Ages, many societis and guilds were dedicated to a particular saint. That figure received special devotion from the members of the society, and, in turn, he would offer its members special protection and favor. At some point in, the two St. John figures became known as the patron saints of Freemasonry. When and where that happened remains a mystery.

From the Masonic perspective, we can understand the balanced dualism of John the Baptist on one side and John the Evangelist on the other. Together, they represent two sides of a coin: the passionate zeal of the baptist and the knowledge of faith of the apostle. A Masonic lodge dedicated to the two patron saints of Freemasonry can be seen as a space to both reflect on and channel our passions. Taken as an abstract compilation of symbols, they represent a well-balanced path toward enlightenment. Even more, their feast days are closely associated with the summer and winter solstice—underscoring the symbolic duality of the two figures.

Masons recognize St. John the Baptist’s Feast Day on June 24 with a large dinner celebration, and St. John the Evangelist on December 27.

Can Catholics Be Masons?

Catholicism’s relationship to Freemasonry continues to confuse many people. That’s been the case all the way since Pope Clement XII in 1738.

The short answer is that Yes, Catholics can be Masons. Many Masons throughout history and today have been practicing Catholics. But over the years, the Catholic church has issued several statements on Masonry that have muddied those waters.

In 1738, a Papal Bull from Rome announced that attending a Masonic lodge would be punishable by death. That condemnation of Masonry has been reiterated by at least seven popes over three centuries. They rest largely on the grounds that the fraternity adheres to an idea described as “religious indifferentism,” according to at least one Catholic publication. The most recent missive was issued in November 2023 in a letter sent from the dicastery to a bishop in the Philippines, reiterated that membership in a Masonic lodge warrants an automatic excommunication that can only be lifted by the Holy See.

However, at other times, the church has appeared to walk back those rules. In the wake of the Second Vatican Council, in 1974, a letter from the Vatican’s prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith seemed to imply that Catholic laymen were able to join Masonic lodges, provided the lodges were not intrinsically anti-Catholic. The letter suggested that Catholics were simply forbidden from joining “associations which plot against the church.”

However, just a few years later, in 1981 (and again in ’83 and ’85), the same Vatican office reversed course, reiterating that the removal of Masonry by name in its Code of Canon Law did not change its position on the fraternity. However, in the U.S. and elsewhere, confusion has lingered.

In the end, Catholic Masons are left with a deeply personal question, just as they are with countless delicate matters. Arthur L. Salazar, the 2024-25 Grand Master of California, who is Catholic, says his deacon presented him with a piece of advice that he passes along to others in a similar position: “He said if I’m ever a member of any organization and feel like it’s not aligned with my moral compass, that’s when it’s time to walk away.”

Further Reading

For more articles on Freemasonry, visit freemason.org/masonic-education/articles-about-freemasonry/

The Common Denominator: Examining the Divisive Issue of Religion That’s Unified the Fraternity

Why Is St. John the Patron Saint of Freemasonry?

The Long Shadow: In the Wake of the Catholic Church’s Latest Statement on Freemasonry, the Question Remains, Why?

Concerning God and Religion, and Freemasonry’s “Center of Union”

Masonic Ritual Takes the Stage

Behind the doors of every Masonic lodge, something profound unfolds—something few outside the fraternity will ever witness. It’s not broadcast or written down. And yet, for those who’ve experienced it, it’s unforgettable.
This is the power of the Masonic ritual: a centuries-old tradition performed with precision, reverence, and secrecy. It’s a play of sorts—with high drama, poetic language, and powerful symbolism—delivered for an audience of one.
What happens in that darkened room has been passed down, unchanged, from generation to generation. It connects today’s Masons with the likes of Mozart, Bolívar, and Churchill. And within that ritual lies the heart of Freemasonry—the mystery, the meaning, the bond that unites brothers across centuries and continents.
Read more in the latest issue California Freemason: californiafreemason.org/masonic-ritual

Fall 2024 Issue Out Now: The Heroes of Freemasonry

Fall 2024 Issue Out Now: The Heroes of Masonry

What’s the best part of being grand master? I’m asked that often as I crisscross the state visiting as many lodges as I can. It’s certainly not the travel, which can be exhausting.

The simple answer is that the best part of this job is the people I’ve been blessed to meet on this journey. No matter where I go, I’m always impressed by the commitment of California Masons to one another, to their communities, and to our craft. I get to see brotherly love, relief, and truth put into practice in a million different ways—some big and dramatic, some small and close to home. But in every case, I know when I come to a Masonic lodge, I’m going to meet brothers who are taking the values and teachings of Freemasonry and putting them into action.

This issue is a celebration of those people, those lodges, and those ideas. It’s through their actions that we make Freemasonry come to life. It’s when we’re interacting with our neighbors, strengthening our community, or helping elderly members get the support they need that we most truly embody the Masonic spirit and push our craft forward.

G. Sean Metroka
Grand Master of Masons in California