Acacia
A sprig of acacia, the Masonic evergreen, an emblem of faith in the immortality of the soul.
Meaning
At a Masonic funeral each brother wears a sprig of evergreen on his left breast and drops it into the grave, according to George Thornburgh's 1903 monitor, where the evergreen is 'an emblem of our faith in the immortality of the soul'. Albert Mackey wrote that Masonry has always taken the sprig of acacia as its symbol of immortality, and that its meaning depends on the legend of Hiram Abif, the builder of the Temple in Masonic tradition. The Grand Lodge of California lists the acacia tree among Masonic symbols today.
At the graveside
Thornburgh’s burial service gives the Master these words at the grave: “Fragrant be the acacia sprig that here shall flourish.” In very bad weather, the monitor says, the service at the grave may be shortened by leaving out any part of it except the apron, the acacia and the honours.
Three meanings in Mackey
Mackey, in The Symbolism of Freemasonry (1869), gives the sprig three meanings. First and most widely accepted, immortality, because the evergreen stays green. Second, innocence, from a play on the Greek word, which means both the plant and innocence. Third, initiation, since every ancient rite had a sacred plant; Mackey thought this the original meaning and the other two incidental.
Which plant
Mackey identified it as the acacia vera of Tournefort, the tree that gives gum arabic, and as the shittim wood of the Bible, from which Moses was told to make the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant. He called the name “cassia”, which he said was used in English lodges, a corruption of “acacia”. Albert Pike, in Morals and Dogma (1871), saw it differently: for him the genuine acacia is the thorny tamarisk, the tree that grew up around the body of Osiris in Egyptian myth.
Write in the Freemasons’ cipher
stringmash.comPigpen cipherThe grid cipher once used for lodge records, drawn from any text you type.Read next
- Next in Masonic symbols47th problem of EuclidA right triangle with a square on each side, the theorem that is the 47th proposition in the first book of Euclid's Elements. In Freemasonry it appears on the Past Master's jewel.
- The same shape in Cryptids and folklore creaturesChamp (Lake Champlain monster)A serpent-like creature reported in Lake Champlain in newspaper stories of the 1880s.
See also
Square and compasses, The letter G, All-seeing eye, Double-headed eagle, Boaz and Jachin, Checkered pavement.
Sources
- Masonic Monitor of the Degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft and Master Mason, George Thornburgh, 1903, approved by the Grand Lodge of Arkansas, Project Gutenberg, Burial service
- The Symbolism of Freemasonry, Albert G. Mackey, 1869, Project Gutenberg, Chapters XXXII and XXXIII
- Freemasonry Symbols, Masons of California (Grand Lodge of California)
- Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Albert Pike, 1871, Project Gutenberg
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols formed from curves and waves.
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 3, 2026. How we research
Added . Last updated .