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
  • Henry V.A. Parsell
  • Kennon Webster Parham
  • J. Edward Allen
  • Harold V.B. Voorhis
  • John R. McCracken
  • Luther T. Hartsell, Jr.
  • J. Hugo Tatsch
  • William B. Hodge
  • John H. Anderson
  • Edgar W. Timberlake, Jr.
  • Michel Saliba
  • Frank M. Pinnix
  • Lee Griffin
  • 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, Honoris Causa
  • 1933, George Howell, Honoris Causa
  • 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, Charles H. Perram, Honoris Causa
  • 1935, Walter G. Crombie, Honoris Causa
  • 1935, Thomas G.L. Lumley-Smith, Honoris Causa
  • 1936, Edson A. MacMillan
  • 1938, Clarence Brain
  • 1939, Charles C. Hunt
  • 1939, Philip Crossle, Honoris Causa
  • 1939, S. Clifton Bingham, Honoris Causa
  • 1940, Clarence J. West
  • 1942, Charles H. Pugh
  • 1946, Ray Vaughn Denslow
  • 1946, Harry S. Truman
  • 1947, Lewis E. Smith
  • 1948, C. Vernon Eddy
  • 1949, Charles P. Eldridge
  • 1949, Arthur W. Dentith, Honoris Causa
  • 1950, Ward K. St. Clair
  • 1950, Hubert M. Poteat
  • 1951, Leon Godown
  • 1952, Harry O. Schroeder
  • 1953, Victor F. Roe
  • 1954, Wallace E. Caldwell
  • 1954, W. Hugh Halliburton
  • 1955, Earl B. Delzell
  • 1956, William L. Cummings
  • 1957, J. Edward Rooker, Jr.
  • 1957, John W. Chitty, Honoris Causa
  • 1958, Carl F. Wood
  • 1959, Carl R. Greisen
  • 1959, Levon M. Oglukian
  • 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. 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, II
  • 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
  • 1987, C. Ray Scarbrough
  • 1987, Ronald Groshaw, Honoris Causa
  • 1988, William E. Yeager, Jr.
  • 1989, Vernon T. Fike
  • 1989, Muneer Deen
  • 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, Jr.
  • 1997, Howard R. Caldwell, Honoris Causa
  • 1997, Dalvin L. Hollaway
  • 1998, David L. Hargett, Jr.
  • 1999, Reese L. Harrison, Jr.
  • 2000, Jerry M. Owens
  • 2000, John E. Jack Kelly
  • 2000, Michael Edward Herbert, Honoris Causa
  • 2000, Timothy John Lewis, Honoris Causa
  • 2000, Christopher F. Starnes, Honoris Causa
  • 2000, Dominique M.J.M. Doyne, Honoris Causa
  • 2000, Andre A.G. Bassou, Honoris Causa
  • 2000, Pierre M.L. Meste, Honoris Causa
  • 2000, Arturo de Hoyos, Honoris Causa
  • 2001, James E. Olmstead
  • 2002, Edward Ripley Saunders, Jr.
  • 2003, Charles R. Neumann
  • 2003, Michel L.F. Gauthier, Honoris Causa
  • 2004, Edward H. Fowler, Jr. 
  • 2004, Daryl W. Selock
  • 2004, Raymond C. Purslow, Honoris Causa
  • 2004, Jean-Claude G. Borie, Honoris Causa
  • 2005, Gary D. Hermann
  • 2005, Lawrence M. Halliday, Honoris Causa
  • 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
  • 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, Robert Dupel, Honoris Causa
  • 2025, Matthew D.A. Fletcher, Honoris Causa
  • 2025, Juanito Abergas, Honoris Causa