5th Degree Jewel

The jewel is the compasses, opened to sixty degrees, the points on a graduated arc. Masonic compasses are opened to sixty degrees because this is the number of degrees in each of the three angles of an equilateral triangle, always a symbol of Deity. It is suspended from a broad grass-green watered ribbon worn from the right shoulder to the left hip. This jewel, absent the square, indicates that the candidate is moving away from the earthly and toward the heavenly: [The Square]… is an emblem of what concerns the earth and the body; [the Compasses] of what concerns the heavens and the soul”. The color of the ribbon symbolizes the attainment of this transition by the renewal of virtue.