The Hiram Award is the single highest honor a Master Mason may receive. It cannot be sought or applied for, but is awarded at the request of the individual’s Lodge.
Hiram Abiff (also Hiram Abif or the Widow's son) is the central character of an allegory presented to all candidates during the third degree in Freemasonry.
The Hiram Award is an award presented to a Master Mason who has served the Lodge and the Masonic Fraternity with devotion over and above the ordinary. It is the highest honor (other than being Master of the Lodge) that can be bestowed on a member of a Masonic Lodge. The Hiram Award is not given for service as Master or any elected or appointed office or committee. The recipient is recognized by his brethren in Masonry for his service to the fraternity, because of his efforts to support one or more Masons, a Lodge or Lodges, a District, the Grand Lodge or the fraternity as a whole. It is a singular distinction, and indicates the esteem, respect and admiration of the members. A Washington Masonic Lodge may bestow a maximum of one Hiram Award each year.
The award consists of a Certificate and a Pin. The Certificate has the Square and Compass with the letter G in the center all of which are encircled with a Larel Wreath. Around this are the words “Hiram Award, Dedicated Service.” The back of the Medallion has a representation of the Seal of The Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the State of California.
The Hiram Award Certificate…
The Hiram Pin…
The following is a common way of presenting this award:
Worshipful Master, Brethren, Friends and especially our Honoree.
It is an honor and privilege for me to have a part in presentation of the Hiram Award to our Honored Brother. While a good Mason does not work for the benefit of Honors or rewards, I am very happy that West Gate Lodge #128 has seen fit to nominate such a true and trusty friend and deserving mason to receive this award.
While we are all here to honor our distinguished brother by presenting him with the prestigious Hiram Award, there are probably some in our audience this evening who are unaware of the background of the Hiram Award. You may also wonder who Hiram was and what Hiram means to Masons.
Hiram is a biblical name meaning “Most Noble”. In the Holy Writings, 1st. Kings, Chapter 7, we read that King Solomon sent and fetched Hiram Abiff out of Tyre. Abiff is a Hebrew expression for father, a term of respect. Therefore, Hiram Abiff translated means “Most Noble Father”.
We also read that Hiram Abiff worked for King Solomon in the erection of King Solomon’s Temple, not only casting the metallic ornaments for the temple, but also as a master architect of the work.
According to legend, over 150,000 workmen were employed in the building of the temple which took approximately seven years to complete. To those workmen who labored faithfully on the project was promised the status of Master Mason upon completion.
But some time before the Temple’s completion, some of the workmen became dissatisfied and demanded the promotions which they had been promised, and conspired to extort them form Hiram Abiff.
In spite of their violent threats, Hiram steadfastly refused to yield to their demands. Reminding them of their obligation to King Solomon and his God, he resolutely insisted that they honor the contracts by which he and they were bound. Three of them, more brutal than the rest, conspired to attack Master Hiram to force the concession they were demanding; but he, being faithful to his trust, was more adamant in his refusal, and they in their wrath slew him in the unfinished Temple.
That, essentially is the legend of Hiram Abiff which has become in Masonry one of the most impressive ritualistic dramas of all time. The real importance of the story of Hiram Abiff is that it still stirs men to serve the truth, by steadfastly maintaining the necessity of those noble aspirations, even to apparent defeat in death.
The first award of this kind was presented to Brother Leo D Castillo from of Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur, Philippines in 1988.