textfiles/magazines/STB/stb-1932-06.txt

SHORT TALK BULLETIN - Vol.X   June, 1932   No.6

THE APRON

by: Unknown

“An emblem of innocence and the badge of a mason; more ancient than 
the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle, more honorable that the Star and 
Garter, or any other order that can be conferred upon you at this or 
any future period, by any King, Prince, Potentate, or any other 
person, except he be a Mason.”

In these few words Freemasonry expresses the honor she pays to this 
symbol of the Ancient Craft.
The Order of the Golden Fleece was founded by Philip, Duke of 
Burgundy, in 1429.
The Roman Eagle was Rome’s symbol and ensign of power and might a 
hundred years before Christ.
The Order of the Star was created by John II of France in the middle 
of the Fourteenth Century.
The Order of the Garter was founded by Edward III of England in 1349 
for himself and twenty-five Knights of the Garter.
That the Masonic Apron is more ancient than these is a provable fact.  
In averring that it is more honorable, the premise “when worthily 
worn” is understood.  The Apron is “more honorable than the Star and 
Garter” when all that it teaches is exemplified in the life of the 
wearer.
Essentially the Masonic Apron is the badge of honorable labor.   The 
right to wear it is given only to tried and tested men.  Much has 
been written on these meanings of the symbol, but more has been 
devoted to trying to read into its modern shape and size - wholly 
fortuitous and an accident of convenience - a so-called “higher 
symbolism” which no matter how beautiful it may be, has no real 
connection with its “Masonic” significance.
So many well-intentioned brethren read into the Masonic Apron 
meanings invented out of whole cloth, that any attempt to put in a 
few words the essential facts about this familiar symbol of the 
Fraternity, either by what is said or left unsaid, is certain to meet 
with some opposition!
It is not possible to “prove” that George Washington did “not” throw 
a silver coin across the Rappahannock, or that he did “not “ cut down 
a cherry tree with his little hatchet.  Yet historians believe both 
stories apocryphal.
It is not possible to “prove” that no intentional symbolism was 
intended when the present square or oblong shape of the Masonic Apron 
was adopted (within the last hundred and fifty years), nor that the 
conventionalized triangular flap in “not” an allusion to the Forty-
seventh Problem and the earliest symbol of Deity (triangle), nor that 
the combination of the four and three corners does not refer to the 
Pythagorean “perfect number” seven.  But hard-headed historians, who 
accept nothing without evidence and think more of evidence than of 
inspirational discourses, do not believe our ancient brethren had in 
mind any such symbolism as many scientific writers have stated.	
The view-point of the Masonic student is that enough real and ancient 
symbolism is in the apron, enough sanctity in its age, enough mystery 
in its descent, to make unnecessary any recourse to geometrical 
astronomical, astrological or other explanations for shape and angles 
which old gravings and documents plainly show to be a wholly modern 
conventionalizing of what in the builder’s art was a wholly 
utilitarian garget.
As Freemasons use it the apron is more than a mere descendant of a 
protecting garment of other clothing, just as Freemasons are more 
than descendants of the builders of the late Middle Ages.  If we 
accept the Comancine theory (and no one has disproved it) we have a 
right to consider ourselves at least collaterally descended from the 
“Collegia” of ancient Rome.  If we accept the evidence of sign and 
symbol, truth and doctrine, arcane and hidden mystery; Freemasonry is 
the modern repository of a hundred remains of as many ancient 
mysteries, religions and philosophies. 
As the apron of all sorts, sizes and colors was an article of sacred 
investure in many of these, so is it in ours.  What is truly 
important is the apron itself; what is less important is its size and 
shape, its method of wearing.  Material and color are symbolic, but a 
Freemasons may be - and has been many - “properly clothed” with a 
handkerchief tucked about his middle, and it is common practice to 
make presentation aprons, most elaborately designed and embellished, 
without using leather at all, let alone lambskin.
Mackey believed color and material to be of paramount importance, and 
inveighed as vigorously as his gentle spirit would permit against 
decorations, tassels, paintings, embroideries, etc.  Most Grand 
Lodges follow the great authority as far as the Craft is concerned, 
but relax strict requirements as to size, shape, color and material 
for lodge officers and Grand Lodge officers.  Even so meticulous a 
Grand Lodge as New Jersey, for instance, which prescribe size and 
shape and absence of decoration, does admit the deep purple edge for 
Grand Lodge officers.
It is a far cry from the “lambskin or white leather apron” of the 
Entered Apprentice, to such an eye-filling garget as is worn by the 
grand Master of Masons in Massachusetts - an apron so heavily 
encrusted with gold leaf, gold lace, gold thread, etc., that the 
garment must be worn on a belt, carried flat in a case, weighs about 
ten pounds, and can be made successfully only by one firm and that 
abroad!
At least as many particular lodges cloth their officers in 
embroidered and decorated aprons, as those which do not.  The Past 
Master’s apron bearing a pair of compasses on the arc of a quadrant, 
may be found at all prices in any Masonic regalia catalogue.  So if, 
as Mackey contended, only the plain white leather apron is truly 
correct, those who go contrary to his dictum have at least the 
respectability of numbers and long custom.
Universal Masonic experience proves the apron to be among the most 
important of those symbols which teach the Masonic doctrine. The 
Apprentice receives it through the Rite of Investure  during his 
first degree, when he is taught to wear it in a special manner.  The 
brother appearing for his Fellowcraft Degree is clothed with it worn 
as an Apprentice; later he learns a new way to wear it.  Finally, as 
a Master Mason, he learns how such Craftsmen should wear the “badge 
of a Mason.” 
That various Jurisdictions are at odds on what is here correct is 
less important than it seems.  Many teach that the Master Mason 
should wear his apron with corner tucked up, as a symbol that he is 
the “Master,” and does not need to use the tools of a Fellowcraft, 
but instead, directs the work.  As many more teach that the 
Fellowcraft wears his apron with corner up, as a symbol that he is 
not yet a “Master,” and therefore does not have a right to wear the 
apron full spread, as a Master Mason should!  Into what is “really” 
correct this paper cannot go; Jeremy Cross, in earlier editions of 
his “True Masonic Chart” shows a picture of a Master Mason wearing 
his apron with the corner tucked up. 
What is universal, and important, is that all three - Entered 
Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master Mason - do wear their aprons in 
different ways.  All are Masons, hence wear the badge of a Mason; one 
has progressed further than another, and therefore wears his apron 
differently as a sign that he has learned more.
Incidentally, it may be noted that aprons seldom are, but always 
should be, worn on the outside of the coat, not hidden beneath it.  
Alas, comfort and convenience - and, in urban lodges, the evening 
dress of officers and some members - have led to the careless habit 
of wearing the apron not in full view, as a badge of honor and of 
service, but concealed, as if it were a matter of small moment.
The use of the apron is very old - far older than as a garment to 
protect the clothing of the operative craftsmen, or to provide him 
with a convenient receptacle in which to keep his tools.
Girdles. or aprons, were part of the clothing of the Priests of 
Israel.  Candidates for the mysteries of Mithras in Persia were 
invested with aprons.  The ancient Japanese used aprons in religious 
worship.  Oliver, noted Masonic scholar of the last century, no 
longer followed as a historian but venerated for his research and his 
Masonic industry, says of the apron:
“The apron appears to have been, in ancient times, an honorary badge 
of distinction.  In the Jewish economy, none but the superior orders 
of the priesthood were permitted to adorn themselves with ornamented 
girdles, which were made of blue, purple and crimson; decorated with 
gold upon a ground of fine white linen; while the inferior priests 
wore only white.  The Indian, the Persian, the Jewish, the Ethiopian 
and the Egyptian aprons, though equally superb, all bore a character 
distinct from each other.  Some were plain white, others striped with 
blue, purple and crimson; some were of wrought gold, others adorned 
and decorated with superb tassels and fringes.
“In a word, though the “principal honor” of the apron may consist in 
its reference to innocence of conduct and purity of heart, yet it 
certainly appears through all ages to have been a most exalted badge 
of distinction.  In primitive times it was rather an ecclesiastical 
than a civil decoration, although in some cases the pron was elevated 
to great superiority as a national trophy.  The Royal Standard of 
Persia was originally “an apron” in form and dimensions.  At this 
day, it is connected with ecclesiastical honors; for the chief 
dignitaries of the Christian church, wherever a legitimate 
establishment, with the necessary degrees of rank and subordination, 
is formed, are invested with aprons as a peculiar badge of 
distinction; which is a collateral proof of the fact that Freemasonry 
was originally incorporated with the various systems of Divine 
Worship used by every people in the ancient world.  Freemasonry 
retains the symbol or shadow; it cannot have renounced the reality or 
substance.”
Mackey’s dictum about the color and the material of the Masonic 
apron, if as often honored in the breach as in the observance, bears 
rereading.  The great Masonic scholar said:
The color of a Freemason’s apron should be pure unspotted white.  
This color has, in all ages and countries, been esteemed an emblem of 
innocence and purity.  It was with this reference that a portion of 
the vestments of the Jewish priesthood was directed to be white.  In 
the Ancient Mysteries the candidate was always clothed in white.  
“The priests of the Romans,” says Festus, “were accustomed to wear 
white garments when they sacrificed.”  In the Scandinavian Rites it 
has been seen that the shield presented to the candidate was white.  
The Druids changed the color of the garment presented to their 
initiates with each degree; white, however, was the color appropriate 
to the last, or degree of perfection.  And it was, according to their 
ritual, intended to teach the aspirant that none were admitted to the 
honor but such as were cleansed from all impurities both of body and 
mind.
“In the early ages of the Christian church a white garment was always 
placed upon the catechumen who had been newly baptized, to denote 
that he had been cleansed from his former sins, and was henceforth to 
lead a life of purity.  	Hence, it was presented to him with 
this solemn charge:  	

“Receive the white and undefiled garment, and produce it unspotted 
before the tribunal of 
our Lord, Jesus Christ,that you may obtain eternal life.”

“From these instances we learn that white apparel was anciently used 
as an emblem of purity, and for this reason the color has been 
preserved in the apron of the Freemason.
“A Freemason’s apron must be made of Lambskin.  No other substance, 
such as linen, silk or satin could be substituted without entirely 
destroying the emblematical character of the apron, for the material 
of the Freemason’s apron constitutes one of the most important 
symbols of his profession.  The lamb has always been considered as an 
appropriate emblem of innocence.  Hence, we are taught, in the ritual 
of the First Degree, that “by the lambskin, the Mason is reminded of 
the purity of life and rectitude of conduct which is so essentially 
necessary to his gaining admission into the Celestial Lodge above, 
where the Supreme Architect of the Universe forever presides.”
Words grow and change in meaning with the years; a familiar example 
is the word “profane” which Masons use in its ancient sense, meaning 
“one not initiated” or “one outside the Temple.”  In common usage, 
profane means blasphemous.  So has the word “innocence” changed in 
meaning.  Originally it connoted “to do no hurt.”  Now it means lack 
of knowledge of evil - as an innocent child; the presence of 
virginity - as an innocent girl; also, the state of being free from 
guilt of any act contrary to law, human or Divine.
“An Emblem of Innocence” is not, Masonically, “an emblem of 
ignorance.”  Rather do we use the original meaning of the word, and 
make of the apron an emblem of one who does no injury to others.  
This symbolism is carried out both by the color and material; white 
has always been the color of purity, and the lamb has always been a 
symbol of harmlessness and gentleness.  Haywood says:
“The innocence of a Mason is his gentleness, chivalrous determination 
to do no moral evil to any person, man or woman, or babe; his patient 
forbearance of the crudeness and ignorance of men, his charitable 
forgiveness of his brethren when they willfully or unconsciously do 
him evil; his dedication to a spiritual knighthood in behalf of the 
value and virtues of humanity by which alone man rises above the 
brutes and the world is carried forward on the upward way.”
The lambskin apron presented to the initiate during his entered 
Apprentice Degree should be for all his life a very precious 
possession; the outward and visible symbol of an inward and spiritual 
tie.  Many, perhaps most, Masons leave their original aprons safely 
at home, and wear the cotton drill substitutes provided by many 
lodges for their members.  But here again the outward and evident 
drill apron is but the symbol of the presentation lambskin symbol; 
the symbol kept safely against the day when, at long last, the 
members of a lodge can do no more for their brother but lay him away 
under its protecting and comforting folds.
Truly he has been a real Mason, in the best sense of that great word, 
who has worn his lambskin apron during his manhood “with pleasure to 
himself, and honor to the Fraternity.”