250 Years of Double-Headed Eagles 1768-2018

by Jeffrey Croteau, Director of the Van-Gorden Williams Library and Archives and Hilary Anderson Stelling , Director of Collections and Exhibitions, Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

The double-headed eagle is perhaps the Scottish Rite’s most recognizable symbol. Yet to many, both within the fraternity and without, it is a strange bird indeed. Here, we take a look at how the representation of this bicephalous avian has changed over time.

One of the earliest depictions of a double-headed eagle appears on a patent issued by Henry Andrew Francken to Samuel Stringer in 1768, essentially investing him with the powers of a Deputy Inspector General in the Rite of Perfection.

Detail of Patent Issued to Samuel Stringer, 1768. Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, A2015/142.

The image, unsurprisingly, appears to be based on that used by the Southern Jurisdiction’s Supreme Council which was founded in 1801. By the 1840s, the NMJ was using a simple two-headed black eagle grasping a sword as part of its seal.

Detail of Original Minutes and Letters of Constitution of Supreme Council, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, 1813-1814. Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, 2014/015/001.

By the early 1860s, the eagle was sometimes depicted on documents with its feet close together and its wings outstretched in a relatively stiff manner.

Detail of Supreme Council Decree and Order Regarding Its Authority, 1848. Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, Gift of the Supreme Council of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite, A2019/178/0273.

The sword, and in the case of the 33rd degree, the crown, were often part of the depiction. In many cases, the double-headed eagle during this period appears with a banner draped over the sword and containing the mottos of either the 32nd degree (Spes mea in Deo est) or that of the 33rd degree (Deus Meumque Jus).

Detail of Circular Warning Against the Hays (Cerneau) Supreme Council in New York City, 1862. Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, Gift of the Supreme Council of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite, A2002/108/1.

In the 1860s, a three-dimensional double-headed eagle with a crown served as a jewel for the 33rd degree. James Freeland (1827-1902), a clothier and Scottish Rite member from Massachusetts, wore a handsome jewel with a double-headed eagle made of silver, gold, and red velvet.

Jewel Owned by James H. Freeland, ca. 1863. Gift of James H. Freeland. Photograph by David Bohl.

An unadorned black eagle with outstretched wings formed part of the imagery of Freeland’s painted 32nd degree apron. In 1884, the Supreme Council’s Committee on Rituals and Ritualistic Matters produced a report on eagles within the Scottish Rite. The report appears to have been issued in response to the following preamble and resolution which was also published in the 1884 Supreme Council Proceedings:

“Whereas, There is a variety in form of "Double Headed Eagles" in use as emblems of this Supreme Council; therefore

Resolved, That the proper form of a Double Headed Eagle as an emblem of this Supreme Council be referred to the Standing Committee on Rituals and Ritualistic matter for designation.”

In other words, the Supreme Council thought it was time to define how its double-headed eagle should look. The report looks back first to the Grand Constitutions of 1786 which includes a description of the seal of the Supreme Council stating that the bird should be portrayed as “a large black Eagle, with two heads, the beak of gold, the wings displayed…”

Apron Owned by James H. Freeland, ca. 1861. Gift of James H. Freeland. Photograph by David Bohl.

The 1884 report clearly lays out how the double-headed eagle should appear starting first with the 32nd degree version:

“The double headed eagle of Kadosh, that is, of the 30th, 31st, and 32d [sic] degrees, is a white and black Eagle. The head, neck, legs and tips of the wings of white feathers, while the body and wings are black. In brief, the bird should be in its natural colors, its wings extended yet drooping. The black symbolizing decay and the white sublimation, or the approaching gradual change to the incorruptible, the becoming pure, holy, Kadosh, immortal. In the claws is a naked sword; one talon of the right claw clinching the hilt of the steel blade in serpentine shape, the left claw grasping the blade. The white ribboned motto pendent from the hilt to the point of the sword contains the words ‘Spes Mea in Deo Est’ in black.”

Following this description, the report lays out the prescribed appearance of the double-headed eagle used for the 33rd degree:

“[T]he emblematic Eagle of an Inspector-General is similar to that of Kadosh; except the gold takes the place of the white, and the Ducal Coronet [i.e., crown] surmounts the heads of the Eagle, and that again supporting a small Delta of gold, the base downward containing the initial letter Jod. The fillet of the crown of an Honorary 33d [sic] is crimson, while that of an Active is purple. The crimson or purple ribboned motto pendent from the hilt of the sword to the point contains the words: ‘Deus Meumque Jus.’”

The report was officially adopted the following year.

By 1900, the Supreme Council’s 33rd degree double-headed eagle had essentially transformed into a double-headed bald eagle combining the Scottish Rite’s symbol with a recognizably American one. G This patriotic double-headed eagle was used for many years on 33rd degree Scottish Rite certificates in the NMJ—an image underscored by two American flags shown draped on either side.

Detail of Honorary 33° Member Certificate Issued by the Supreme Council for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction to David A. Sawdey, 1900. Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, A1988/028.

In 1916, Scottish Rite member Edwin D. Washburne, who worked in the jewelry business, collaborated with Sovereign Grand Commander Barton Smith to create a multi-piece set of ritual objects wrought in silver. Several of the objects in this set were decorated with a cast double-headed eagle set in a border of laurel leaves. H The silver set was commissioned and designed to help mark the 50th anniversary of the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction’s Union of 1867.

Detail, Tray, 1916. Roger Wallace and Sons, Wallingford, Connecticut. Gift of the Supreme Council, 33, Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, U. S. A.

Harry Augustin Thompson, who received the 33rd degree in New York in 1923, wore a jewel that incorporated a large silver eagle with a jeweled purple crown topped with a delta. I The Valley of Lowell, Massachusetts, presented this jewel to Thompson, who was the treasurer of the Moxie Company founded by his father. Compared to the smooth-feathered eagle on James Freeland’s jewel, the eagle on Thompson’s jewel looks more substantial and has more detailed feathers in keeping with the eagles that appeared on Scottish Rite certificates in the twentieth century.

Jewel Owned by Harry Augustin Thompson, ca. 1923. Gift of Union Lodge #31, A.F. &. A. M., Union, Maine.

The double-headed eagle’s depiction on NMJ certificates throughout the twentieth century is remarkably consistent. In 1900, the double headed eagle on 32nd degree certificates featured an eagle with two black-feathered heads. By 1911, the double-headed eagle on 32nd degree certificates had two white feathered heads. While the appearance was not so obviously the double-headed bald eagle featured on 33rd degree certificates, the look was more aligned with that bird than with previous depictions. This version of 32nd degree double-headed eagle was in use all through the twentieth century and into the twenty-first including on certificates issued in 2000.

Detail of 32° member certificate issued by the Supreme Council for the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction to August Silz, 1900. Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, Gift of Terry Golson, A1999/044/001.

Detail of 32° certificate issued by the Valley of Hartford to John A. Waterhouse, 2000. Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library, Gift of the Estate of John A. Waterhouse, A2011/037/071.

In 2018, the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction introduced a newly designed double-headed eagle. It was rightly described as having “a crisp, clean and modern look.” The current double-headed eagle is instantly recognizable as being in line with the appearance of previous versions of the symbol; however, this contemporary look still carries the traditions of the past 250 years with it.