The Grand Orient de France (GODF) is the oldest and largest of several Freemasonic organizations based in France and is the oldest in Continental Europe. The Grand Orient de France is generally regarded as the "mother lodge" of Continental Freemasonry.
The Tree of the Grand Orient, allegoric engraving of the Grand Orient de France as the centre of French Masonic organizations.
Masonic Marianne, by Paul Lecreux (aka Jacques France). This bust inspired Republican variations of Marianne used during the Third Republic.
A masonic medallion issued by the Masonic Lodge "Vistina - La Verite" in Skopje, the Republic of North Macedonia. The lodge is under the jurisdiction of the Grand Orient of France.
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 14th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities and clients. Modern Freemasonry broadly consists of two main recognition groups: Regular Freemasonry, which insists that a volume of scripture be open in a working lodge, that every member professes belief in a Supreme Being, that no women be admitted, and that the discussion of religion and politics do not take place within the lodge; and Continental Freemasonry, which consists of the jurisdictions that have removed some, or all, of these restrictions.
Lodge in Palazzo Roffia, Florence, set out for French (Moderns) ritual
Print from 1870 portraying George Washington as Master of his Lodge
Freemasons Hall, London, home of the United Grand Lodge of England
Freemasons' Hall, London, c. 1809