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One of the more common motifs in American fraternal jewelry is that universal symbol of death, the skull and crossbones. Interestingly, this is only found among American fraternal orders and not shared by their British cousins. (It is also worth noting that the so-called �Secret Societies� of the United States are known as �Friendly Societies� in the British Isles.)
The significance of this symbol varies among orders and, surprisingly, seems to have no significance at all among most of them. For example, most Knights of Pythias fobs, charms, and lapel pins display the Skull and Bones. Yet among jewelry sanctioned by the Pythian Supreme Lodge, the symbol is not to be found at all. Much the same is true among the Moose, Woodmen, and all the other orders whose fobs frequently hang from ruby-eyed skulls. Like the knight�s helmet, it was simply a stylish feature in the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries.
Among at least a couple of orders it does have symbolic significance. In the Masonic Knights Templar, it is symbolic of Golgotha, the Place of the Skull and the crucifixion place of Jesus Christ. Among the Knights of Columbus, it is coupled with the initials TFMM which stand for the Latin Tempus Fugit Memento Mori meaning Time Flies; Remember [that you will] Die. The skull and bones were an integral part of the rituals of the Order of Knights of Pythias, Moose and the Woodmen of the World. The Moose and the Woodmen did away with the utilization of the skull and bones in their initiation ceremonies long ago, but the Knights of Columbus still use them.
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