Breast Jewel of the
Knight Grand Cross

The rank and title of Knight Grand Cross, the highest award of the Grand Council, may be conferred under the following regulations:

A.  The Sovereign Grand Master shall be entitled to the rank and title of Knight Grand Cross and shall be invested with said rank and title immediately following his installation as Sovereign Grand Master.

B.  It may be conferred upon on such other distinguished brethren as the Board of General Purposes recommends and the Grand Council elects.

Holders of the Knight Grand Cross

Founding Members (1933)

  • J. Raymond Shute, II, Reinstated 1987
  • Henry W. Parham
  • J. Edward Allen
  • John R. McCracken
  • Harold V. B. Voorhis
  • Luther T. Hartsell, Jr.
  • Lee Griffin
  • J. Hugo Tatsch
  • William B. Hodge
  • John H. Anderson
  • Edgard W. Timberlake, Jr.
  • Michel Saliba
  • Frank M. Pinnix
  • Julius S. Stearns
  • Louis F. Hart
  • Harry S. Storr
  • Herbert C. Alexander
  • Benjamin F. Houston
  • Will J. Roach
  • James W. Payne

Recipients by Year of Award

  • 1933, Fred E. Smith
  • 1933, Archibald Kennedy, Earl of Casillis
  • 1933, George Howell
  • 1933, Samuel B. Furbish
  • 1933, Raymond H. Eastman
  • 1933, Ernest J. Record
  • 1933, Charles C. Crosby
  • 1933, Charles F. Ridlon
  • 1933, James M. Clift
  • 1934, William Moseley Brown
  • 1934, S. Clifton Bingham
  • 1934, Charles H. Perram
  • 1935, Walter G. Crombie
  • 1935, Major Sir T. G. L. Lumley-Smith
  • 1936, Edson A. MacMillan
  • 1938, Clarence Brain
  • 1939, Philip Crossle
  • 1939, Charles C. Hunt
  • 1940, Clarence J. West
  • 1942, Charles H. Pugh
  • 1946, Harry S. Truman
  • 1946, Ray V. Denslow
  • 1947, Lewis E. Smith
  • 1948, C. Vernon Eddy
  • 1949, Arthur W. Dentith
  • 1950, Hubert M. Poteat
  • 1950, Ward K. St. Clair
  • 1951, Leon Godown
  • 1952, Harry O. Schroeder
  • 1953, H. Victor F. C. C. Roe
  • 1954, Wallace E. Caldwell
  • 1954, W. Hugh Halliburton
  • 1955, Earl B. Delzell
  • 1956, William L. Cummings
  • 1957, J. Edward Rooker, Jr.
  • 1957, Lt. Col. John W. Chitty
  • 1958, Carl F. Wood
  • 1959, Levon M. Oglukian
  • 1959, Carl R. Greisen
  • 1960, Bruce H. Hunt
  • 1961, Murray C. Alexander
  • 1962, Francis J. Scully
  • 1963, Robert H. Bowlby
  • 1964, William E. Yeager
  • 1964, Reyburn Miller
  • 1965, C. Wallace Jackson
  • 1966, William T. Buckner
  • 1967, Marvin E. Fowler
  • 1968, John H. Pierczynski
  • 1968, Archibald R. McNeill
  • 1969, Henry Emmerson, Jr.
  • 1970, Wylie B. Wendt
  • 1971, William J. J. Fleming
  • 1972, Sylvanus F. Nye
  • 1973, Warren H. Coolidge
  • 1974, Ernest M. Moore, Jr.
  • 1974, Robert L. Grubb
  • 1975, Charles F. Adams
  • 1976, Waldron C. Biggs
  • 1977, J. Alex Adams
  • 1978, Warren F. Bower
  • 1979, Harold D. Elliott, 2nd
  • 1980, G. Wilbur Bell
  • 1981, William G. Peacher
  • 1982, William B. Smith
  • 1983, Herbert A. Fisher
  • 1984, Charles R. Glassmire
  • 1985, Tam L. Shumaker
  • 1986, Raymond E. Loose
  • 1986, Ronald Groshaw, Honoris Causa
  • 1987, Jay Ray Shute, II (Reinstated)
  • 1987, C. Ray Scarbrough
  • 1988, William E. Yeager, Jr.
  • 1989- Munkeer Deen
  • 1989- Vernon T. Fike
  • 1990, Allen E. Roberts
  • 1990, Eddie P. Stiles (Posthumously) 
  • 1990, James D. Penley (Posthumously)
  • 1991, Edwin E. Cummings
  • 1992, Jerry G. Tart
  • 1992, Peter Glyn Williams, Honoris Causa
  • 1993, George Orland Braatz
  • 1994, S. Flory Diehl
  • 1995, James M. Ward
  • 1996, William Henry Thornley
  • 1997, Howard R. Caldwell
  • 1997, Dalvin L. Hollaway
  • 1998, David L. Hargett, Jr.
  • 1999, Reese L. Harrison
  • 2000, John E. Jack Kelly
  • 2000, Jerry M. Owens
  • 2001, James E. Olmstead
  • 2002, Edward Ripley Saunders
  • 2003, Charles R. Neumann
  • 2003, Michel L. F. Gauthier, Honoris Causa
  • 2004, Edward H. Fowler, Jr. 
  • 2004, Raymond C. Purslow, Honoris Causa
  • 2004, Lawrence M. Halliday, Honoris Causa
  • 2004, Jean-Claude G. Borie, Honoris Causa
  • 2004, Daryl W. Selock, Honoris Causa
  • 2005, Gary D. Hermann 
  • 2006, William R. Miller
  • 2007, D. Allen Surratt
  • 2007, Peter D. Park, Honoris Causa
  • 2008, Kenneth B. Fischer
  • 2009, William R. Logan, Jr.
  • 2010, C. Michael Watson
  • 2011, Douglas Lawrence Jordan
  • 2012, Joe R. Manning, Jr.
  • 2013, Matthew D. Dupee
  • 2014, Robert G. Davis
  • 2014, Thomas F. Jackson, Honoris Causa
  • 2014, Prince Selvaraj, Honoris Causa
  • 2014, Gabriel Gherasim, Honoris Causa
  • 2014, John Paternoster, Honoris Causa
  • 2015, Douglas S. Moore
  • 2016, Laurence E. Tucker
  • 2017, Gary B. Hinson
  • 2018, David D. Goodwin
  • 2019, Paul S. Newhall
  • 2020, Glen A. Cook
  • 2020, Clyde H. Schoolfield, Jr.
  • 2020, Christian Amine, Honoris Causa
  • 2020, Paul W. Johnston, Honoris Causa
  • 2021, Mohamad A. Yatim
  • 2022, Aaron M. Shoemaker
  • 2023, W. Berry Rigdon
  • 2024, John C. Elkinton
  • 2025, Douglas R. Knauer
  • 2025, Seth C. Anthony
  • 2025, Pierre Mieste, Honoris Causa
  • 2025, Juanito Abergas, Honoris Causa
  • 2025, Matthew D.A. Fletcher, Honoris Causa