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60 free Freemasons trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Freemasons trivia is harder than the conspiracy theories make it look, because the real story is a tangle of rival Grand Lodges, medieval charters, Enlightenment salons and a great deal of committee business. This quiz sticks to what is documented: the three Craft degrees and their tools, the Tyler at the door, the Volume of Sacred Law, the 1717 dinner in London that started the first Grand Lodge, the Antients and Moderns who fought for sixty years before uniting in 1813, and the lodge in Edinburgh with minutes going back to 1598. It also covers the wider world: Prince Hall and African Lodge No. 459, George Washington's inauguration Bible, the Grand Orient de France dropping the requirement to believe in God in 1877, the papal bull of 1738 that still stands, William Morgan's disappearance and the Anti-Masonic Party that held America's first presidential nominating convention, Mussolini's ban, the Scottish Rite's 33 degrees, the Art Deco Freemasons' Hall in Covent Garden, and famous members from Mozart to Bolívar. Easy questions suit anyone who has noticed a square and compasses on a building; the expert tier assumes you know which body meets at Mark Masons' Hall. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on Freemasonry, the Anti-Masonic Party and related pages, and the supporting sentence is attached to each question.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Freemasonry traces its origins to medieval guilds of which trade?
Stonemasons
It is generally considered the oldest existing secular fraternal organisation, with documents going back to the 14th century.
Q 02How many degrees make up Craft or 'Blue Lodge' Freemasonry?
3
They mirror the medieval guild grades of apprentice, journeyman and master.
Q 03What is the first degree a candidate receives in Freemasonry?
Entered Apprentice
He is later passed to the second degree and then to the third.
Q 04A Mason is 'initiated' into the first degree, 'passed' to the second, and what to the third?
Raised
At each step he is entrusted with passwords, signs and grips confined to that rank.
Q 05What is the officer called who stands guard outside the door of a working lodge?
The Tyler
He may be paid for the job; every lodge also has a Master, two Wardens, a treasurer and a secretary.
Q 06How many Wardens does every Masonic lodge have?
Two
Almost all lodge officers are elected or appointed annually.
Q 07What is the formal dinner sometimes held after a lodge meeting called?
The festive board
It is also known as an Agape, and may involve toasting and song.
Q 08What is the single most identifiable symbol of Freemasonry?
The square and compasses
Both are architect's tools; one 1866 monitor says the square teaches you to square your actions.
Q 09In English-speaking countries the Masonic emblem often carries which letter at its centre?
G
It is most commonly said to stand for God, and alternatively for Geometry.
Q 10Freemasonry describes itself as a 'beautiful system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by' what?
Symbols
The imagery is drawn mainly from builders' tools: the level, plumb rule, trowel, and rough and smooth ashlars.
Q 11The Craft degree ceremonies revolve around the building of which structure?
The Temple of Solomon
The central legend concerns the artistry and death of its chief architect.
Q 12Which legendary chief architect's death is the subject of the Masonic third-degree ritual?
Hiram Abiff
Many versions of the legend exist, but each is recognisable to a Freemason from any jurisdiction.
Q 13In most lodges, on what is the Masonic oath taken?
A Volume of Sacred Law
That means whichever scripture suits the candidate; in the Anglo-American tradition it is usually the Bible.
Q 21Which is the largest single Masonic jurisdiction by membership, with an estimated 175,000 members?
The United Grand Lodge of England
There is no worldwide governing body; the United States has no national Grand Lodge, only state ones.
Q 22The Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is a system of how many degrees?
33
That count includes the three Blue Lodge degrees; it is run by a Supreme Council rather than a Grand Lodge.
Q 23In America, the York Rite administers the Royal Arch, Cryptic Masonry and which knightly order?
Knights Templar
In Britain separate bodies run each order; the English Templars share Mark Masons' Hall in London.
Q 14What are the painted depictions used in some lodges to illustrate the themes of each degree called?
Tracing boards
They are shown according to which degree is being worked and explained to the candidate.
Q 15The first Grand Lodge was founded in London on St John's Day of which year?
1717
Over the next decade most existing English lodges joined it, and it began a period of self-publicity and expansion.
Q 16The rival 1751 Grand Lodge, the 'Antients', coined which insulting label for the original body?
The Moderns
The two bodies competed for supremacy for over sixty years before compromising on a shared ritual.
Q 17In which year did the two rival English Grand Lodges finally reunite?
1813
The union struck all US-based lodges from the rolls, largely because of the War of 1812.
Q 18The Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel) No. 1 has minutes running continuously from which year?
1598
It shows a continuity from an operative lodge to a modern speculative one and is reputed to be the world's oldest.
Q 19The oldest of the Masonic 'Old Charges', a manuscript from about 1425, is known as what?
The Regius Poem
The Old Charges relate a mythologised history of the craft and how oaths of fidelity are to be taken.
Q 20Which two Grand Lodges were founded in 1725 and 1736 respectively?
Ireland and Scotland
Neither persuaded all the existing lodges in its country to join for many years.
Q 24Which Masonic tradition is dominant in the Nordic countries?
The Swedish Rite
A variation of it is also used in parts of Germany.
Q 25Which royal was installed as Grand Master of English Craft Masonry in 1967?
Prince Edward, Duke of Kent
Installed in 1967, he became the longest-serving Grand Master; in England the Royal Arch is closely tied to the Craft and shares many Grand Officers with it.
Q 26By 1789 France had how many Freemasons, making it the most popular of all Enlightenment associations?
50,000–100,000
French lodges' initiation rites included the line 'As the means to be enlightened I search for the enlightened'.
Q 27Which composer is listed among prominent 18th-century Freemasons alongside Voltaire and Goethe?
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The list also includes Montesquieu, Robert Walpole and Benjamin Franklin.
Q 28As Emperor of the French, whom did Napoleon select as Grand Master of France?
His own brother
In the same era Prussian lodges were headed by Frederick the Great and English ones by the Prince of Wales.
Q 29The Grand Orient de France was reconstituted in 1773 under which Grand Master?
Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
His predecessor at the Grande Loge de France had exercised only nominal authority.
Q 30In 1877 the Grand Orient de France dropped which requirement, losing English Grand Lodge recognition?
Belief in the existence of God
It followed the Lausanne Congress of 1875 and a report by a Protestant pastor arguing Freemasonry was not a religion.