Knights of Pythias Porcelain Lodge Sign: “F.C.B.”—Friendship, Charity and Benevolence – VS6335

The True Abraham Lincoln Connection

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President Abraham Lincoln did not sign the Knights of Pythias congressional charter. The final charter was approved on May 5, 1870, nearly five years after Lincoln’s death and during the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant. “Charter Granted by President Lincoln” should not be presented as fact.

Lincoln’s connection to the Order is nevertheless an important part of its traditional history.

According to the Knights of Pythias, President Lincoln was informed of the organization’s teachings during the Civil War. He admired its principles of Friendship, Charity and Benevolence and recognized their potential to help reunite the American people. Pythian tradition holds that Lincoln encouraged the organization to seek recognition from Congress and offered his support for its work.

The Knights of Pythias subsequently became the first American fraternal order chartered by an Act of the United States Congress.

It was not America’s first fraternity — older organizations such as the Freemasons and Odd Fellows were already well established — but it held the historic distinction of being the first American fraternal order to receive this form of congressional recognition.

A Symbol of America’s Fraternal Heritage

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, fraternal lodges played a significant role in American life. They were places of fellowship, moral instruction, charitable assistance and civic responsibility.

Members helped widows, orphans, struggling families and neighbors in need. Before modern public welfare and insurance programs became widely available, fraternal organizations often provided an essential network of financial, social and personal support.

The Knights of Pythias grew from its first Washington lodge into an international brotherhood with lodges across the United States and beyond. Its members continued to advance the ideals expressed by the letters on this sign:

F — Friendship

C — Charity

B — Benevolence

An Authentic Piece of Lodge History

The Knights of Pythias is a fraternal organization and secret society founded in Washington, D.C., on February 19, 1864. The Knights of Pythias is the first fraternal organization to receive a charter under an act of the United States Congress.

This original vintage porcelain sign is more than decorative Americana. It is a surviving artifact from an era when a lodge emblem represented fellowship, responsibility and a solemn promise to help others.

Its vivid colors, inverted triangular form and helmeted knight create a visually commanding example of historic American fraternal signage. Natural evidence of age and use contributes to its character and reflects its working life as a lodge identification sign.

Whether displayed in a private collection, historic interior, library, office, gallery, game room or museum-quality environment, this Knights of Pythias sign preserves the story of an American brotherhood founded during the Civil War upon an enduring belief:

Friendship can unite people. Charity can relieve suffering. Benevolence can strengthen a nation.

A Genuine Artifact of American Fraternal, Civic and Cultural History

This exceptional vintage sign offers collectors an opportunity to preserve a tangible piece of the Knights of Pythias legacy — an organization born during one of America’s most divided periods and dedicated to the timeless principles of loyalty, service and brotherhood.