The Square and Compasses of Freemasonry

When Freemasons see the square and compasses, the traditional emblem of Freemasonry, they usually think of what these architectural drafting tools represent: A person acting on the square (as in “that was a square deal”) and circumscribing their actions within the circle of proper conduct. The square and compasses symbol, however, may not always be what it seems.

In the mid nineteenth century a “fraternal” organization, the Order of United American Mechanics (the OUAM), formed in response to the wave of immigration that the United States was experiencing. This society was strongly anti-immigration and, one could say, downright bigoted. Remember reading about those “Irish need not apply” signs? That was these guys.

The Emblem of the Order of United American Mechanics

The OUAO took the familiar Masonic square and compasses and added the also familiar arm and hammer mark to form their emblem. As this group’s goals were in such profound opposition to Freemasonry’s teachings of universal brotherhood, Freemasons were, not surprisingly, incensed. In fact, lawsuits were inititated to stop the OUAM from stealing the emblem, but were not succesful.

Why would an obscure, and defunct, group of nineteenth century bigots be relevant to contemporary Freemasonry? As a collector of old Masonic regalia, I come across a surprising amount of OUAM items on Ebay under the search term “Masonic”. When I do, I feel obliged to email the usually oblivious seller to inform them that the item is certainly *not* Masonic. So when you are looking for great old Masonic regalia on Ebay, be sure to examine the pictures closely. If there is an arm and hammer in the emblem, keep on scrolling.