Many people -- including some Freemasons -- say it's a Masonic symbol, but that's not the case. UCLA's Margaret Jacob says these symbols have been used by many different groups, including Masons ...

But what exactly does all that symbolism mean, and where did it come from? Browse this gallery and peek inside the secretive ...

To separate Freemason fact from Lost Symbol-style myth, National Geographic News went inside the centuries-old order with two Masons and a historian of the ancient Christian order from which some ...

Emblem Of The Masonic Lodge Flaming Star | Heritage Images/GettyImages. Symbols have long been crucial to Freemasonry. They’re used to codify and communicate important Masonic ideas and values ...

Best-selling author Dan Brown's latest novel, The Lost Symbol, draws heavily on the lore and mystique of the Freemasons. A visit to one of the locations in the novel, a prominent Masonic building ...

For 200 years, Freemasonry was exclusively for men. The first female lodge in the UK opened in 1908, and there are now two lodges in England, with around 4,700 members.

Freemasonry emblem (kaetana/Shutterstock) ... Masons, as members are called, progress through varying “degrees,” each of which requires its own unique initiation rituals and oaths.