In my eyes this variation of American George Washington’s Masonic Apron reproduction stole the show. It’s similar but better than the one shown on line.
www.flickr.com/photos/21728045@N08/19159557843/in/datepos…
Bro. George Washington’s Apron
(one of two that he owned)
Click on a Number above to take you to the explanation below
When the young Marquis de Lafayette came to America at the age of 20 and joined George Washington’s army for the Battle of Brandywine in 1777, the American cause had become his cause.
The affection each man held for the other is legendary. So, too, is the legacy of Masonic history developed through that affection. For many years Masons and non-Masons believed that the white silk apron known as the Lafayette Apron, had been embroidered by Madame Lafayette and presented to Bro. George Washington by Bro. Lafayette in August of 1784. This cannot be documented as fact. It has, however, been ascertained that the Apron did indeed belong to Bro. Washington, and current research suggests that it was made in China.
The apron was presented to the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania by the Washington Benevolent Society on July 3, 1829 and is now on display in the Grand Lodge Museum at the Masonic Temple in Philadelphia. It is a study in symbolism. For example, the apron border colors of red, white and blue are the national colors of both the United States and France. Symbols are silent emblems having meaning only when interpreted. Given the unique character of the interpretation process, it can be understood that no symbol has absolute meaning.
In preparing the following, the late Bro. Frank W. Bobb, Grand Lodge librarian and curator, has used those meanings most widely accepted by Masonic scholars in interpreting the symbolism of the Washington Apron.
Top of Page1. RED symbolizes courage, zeal, the blood of life, and fire. It is the color of Royal Arch Masonry.
Top of Page2. WHITE has throughout the ages represented purity and innocence.
Top of Page3. BLUE has been esteemed since antiquity as a beneficent color, denoting immortality, eternity, chastity and fidelity. It is the color of Symbolic Masonry, "the Blue Lodge."
Top of Page4. ALL-SEEING EYE,a symbol of watchfulness and of the Supreme Being.
Top of Page5. RAYS or Glory, symbolic of the power of the Supreme Being to penetrate the innermost reaches of the human heart.
Top of Page6. RAINBOW is sometimes associated with the Royal Arch. It is also part of the architectural arch, being the 9th arch under Solomon’s Temple. It is supported by two Pillars (see No.8). Another interpretation calls it the Arch of Heaven supported by pillars (Job 26:11). The pillars which support the arch are emblematical of Wisdom and Strength.
Top of Page7. MOON, one of the Lesser Lights in Freemasonry. The Moon governs and rules the night.
Top of Page8. PILLARS OF ENOCH. Enoch, fearing that the principles of the arts and sciences might be lost, erected two pillars. the one of marble to withstand fire, the other of brass to resist water. On each he engraved that which he feared would be lost. The Globes are symbols of Unity and Peace and Plenty. (See also No.37)
Top of Page9. PILLARS B. and J. were within the porch of King Solomon’s Temple. Boaz the name of the left pillar means "in strength"; the right pillar, Jachin, means "God will establish" (see also No.38). The globe on the left pillar represents earth; that on the right, heaven. These brazen pillars with their globes are today the columns of the Senior and Junior Wardens.
Top of Page10. DOVE in early Masonry is a symbol of Noah’s messenger. In ancient symbolism, the dove represented purity and innocence.
Top of Page11. FORTY-SEVENTH PROBLEM OF EUCLID’S first book of geometry. It is said that when Pythagoras solved the problem he exclaimed, "Eureka!," which signifies "I have found it." It is, however, not a problem, but a theorem. It has been adopted as the symbol on the Past Master Mason’s Jewel in Pennsylvania (The Ahiman Rezon, Art. XVI, Sec, 3 & 4).
Top of Page12. HOPE is sometimes shown as a female with an anchor, also as an anchor near the ark. ANCHOR, an emblem of a well-grounded hope and a well-spent life. With hope, an Anchor holds the soul both sure and steadfast.
Top of Page13. PLUMB, the proper Masonic Jewel of the Junior Warden, admonishes us to walk uprightly before God and man. It is one of the working tools of operative Masons, used to try perpendiculars.
Top of Page14. JACOB’S LADDER without a clouded canopy or star-decked heaven, which he saw in a vision ascending from earth to heaven. The three principal rounds are denominated FAITH, HOPE, and CHARITY.
Top of Page15. SQUARE WITHIN BOUNDS is a symbol formed by four stonemason’s squares of equal arms superimposed one on the other to form a central square. This symbol has not been found in American or English books of Masonic symbolism and therefore may well be of French origin. There has been no interpretation found for it to date.
Top of Page16. LIGHTS or BURNING TAPERS, like the three principal Lodge officers, refer undoubtedly to the three stations of the sun: its rising in the East (Worshipful Master), its meridian in the South (Junior Warden), and its setting in the West (Senior Warden). (See also Nos. 30 & 31)
Top of Page17. TROWEL, a working tool of the operative mason, is used symbolically for spreading the cement of Brotherly love and affection.
Top of Page18. FIVE-POINTED STAR represents the five points of fellowship. Within the star is the letter "G," a well-known symbol of Freemasonry representing both God and geometry.
Top of Page19. MOSAIC PAVEMENT, a representation ofthe ground floor of King Solomon’s Temple. The Masonic Pavement is emblematical of human life, checked with good and evil.
Top of Page20. STEPS are usually three in number. The six steps are said to represent degrees Washington received.
Top of Page21. HOLY BIBLE, the great light of Freemasonry.
Top of Page22. COFFIN has always symbolized death. It is found on tracing boards of the 18th century and, in that time, constituted a part of the esoteric symbolism.
Top of Page23. SKULL AND CROSS-BONES are symbols of mortality and death and are so used in French degrees.
Top of Page24. SPRIG OF ACACIA. The acacia tree is supposedly the shittah wood of the Old Testament. The name is sometimes spelled Cassia. It has long been used as a symbol of immortality.
Top of Page25. SQUARE is the proper Masonic Jewel of the Master of the Lodge. It is one of the Great Lights in Freemasonry. It is the stonemason’s square of two equal arms.
Top of Page26. COMPASSES, the proper Masonic emblem of the Craft, and one of the Great Lights in Freemasonry.
Top of Page27. BRICK WALL appears to represent the place in the Lodge occupied by the Altar. The Holy Bible, Square, and Compasses rest upon it, as do the three Lesser Lights. It composes nine rows of bricks, one upon the other. To give the symbolic meaning of the wall would be mere speculation.
Top of Page28. ARK is emblematical of that Divine Ark which safely carries us over this tempest-tossed life. It is often shown with the Anchor.
Top of Page29. SETTING MAUL, in operative Masonry, is used for setting stones, that is, tapping them to a firm seat in the mortar or urging them sidewise into place. It is considered by some to be a symbol of untimely death.
Top of Page30. (See No.16)
Top of Page31. (See No.16)
Top of Page32. TREASURER of the Lodge wearing the Apron of his office and holding the emblem of his office, Crossed Keys.
Top of Page33. TWENTY-FOUR INCH GAUGE symbolizes the twenty-four hours of day divided into three equal parts devoted to God, usual vocations, and rest.
Top of Page34. SWORD POINTING TO A NAKED HEART demonstrates that justice will sooner or later overtake us; and that although our thoughts, words and actions may be hidden from the eyes of man, they are not hidden from the All-Seeing Eye.
Top of Page35. TASSEL consists of a cord with tassels on the ends. It alludes to the Care of Providence which surrounds and keeps us within its protection while we govern our lives by the four cardinal virtues: temperance, fortitude, prudence and justice. The tassel may also represent the Mystic Tie, that sacred bond which unites men of diverse opinions into one band of Brothers.
Top of Page36. LEVEL, the proper Masonic Jewel of the Senior Warden, symbolizes equality and reminds us that we are traveling upon the level of time, It is one of the working tools of an operative mason.
Top of Page37. (See No.8)
Top of Page38. (See No.9)
Top of Page39. SUN, one of the Lesser light as a source of light it reminds the Mason of that intellectual light of which he is in constant search.
Top of Page40. SEVEN SIX-POINTED STARS. The number SEVEN represents the Seven Liberal Arts and Sciences: Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic, Arithmetic, Geometry, Music and Astronomy. The SIX-POINTED STAR symbolizes Divine Providence, the star of David or Shield of David. It comprises two interlaced triangles, which have a number of Masonic interpretations.
Top of Page41. LETTERS used symbolically in the Mark Master Mason’s degree, Chapter of Royal Arch Mason.
Top of Page42. BEEHIVE is the emblem of industry. It teaches us that as we came into this world rational and intelligent beings, so we should ever be industrious ones.
Top of Page43. APRON. The Masonic Apron, which derives from the working apron of the stonemason, is in itself a symbol. It is an emblem of innocence, and the badge of a Freemason.
Reprinted 1185.
George Washington, a young Virginia planter, becomes a Master Mason, the highest basic rank in the secret fraternity of Freemasonry. The ceremony was held at the Masonic Lodge No. 4 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Washington was 21 years old and would soon command his first military operation as a major in the Virginia colonial militia.
Freemasonry evolved from the practices and rituals of the stonemasons’ guilds in the Middle Ages. With the decline of European cathedral building, “lodges” decided to admit non-stonemasons to maintain membership, and the secret fraternal order grew in popularity in Europe. In 1717, the first Grand Lodge, an association of lodges, was founded in England, and Freemasonry was soon disseminated throughout the British Empire. The first American Mason lodge was established in Philadelphia in 1730, and future revolutionary leader Benjamin Franklin was a founding member.
There is no central Masonic authority, and Freemasons are governed locally by the order’s many customs and rites. Members trace the origins of Masonry back to the erecting of King Solomon’s Temple in biblical times and are expected to believe in the “Supreme Being,” follow specific religious rites, and maintain a vow of secrecy concerning the order’s ceremonies. The Masons of the 18th century adhered to liberal democratic principles that included religious toleration, loyalty to local government, and the importance of charity. From its inception, Freemasonry encountered considerable opposition from organized religion, especially from the Roman Catholic Church.
For George Washington, joining the Masons was a rite of passage and an expression of his civic responsibility. After becoming a Master Mason, Washington had the option of passing through a series of additional rites that would take him to higher “degrees.” In 1788, shortly before becoming the first president of the United States, Washington was elected the first Worshipful Master of Alexandria Lodge No. 22.
Many other leaders of the American Revolution, including Paul Revere, John Hancock, the Marquis de Lafayette, and the Boston Tea Party saboteurs, were also Freemasons, and Masonic rites were witnessed at such events as Washington’s presidential inauguration and the laying of the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C.–a city supposedly designed with Masonic symbols in mind. Masonic symbols, approved by Washington in the design of the Great Seal of the United States, can be seen on the one-dollar bill. The All-Seeing Eye above an unfinished pyramid is unmistakably Masonic, and the scroll beneath, which proclaims the advent of a “New Secular Order” in Latin, is one of Freemasonry’s long-standing goals. The Great Seal appeared on the dollar bill during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, also a Mason.
Freemasonry has continued to be important in U.S. politics, and at least 15 presidents, five Supreme Court chief justices, and numerous members of Congress have been Masons. Presidents known to be Masons include Washington, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, James Garfield, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Warren Harding, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, and Gerald Ford. Today there are an estimated two million Masons in the United States, but the exact membership figure is one of the society’s many secrets.
