Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library

Washington Centennial Celebration Ribbon
1832
Maker not marked
Place made not marked
Ink on silk
overall: 5-1/2"h x 2-1/8"w
Gift of Dr. William L. and Mary B. Guyton Collection
91.046.13

Washington Centennial Celebration Ribbon; depicts George Washington standing before column and chair; reads "WASHINGTON/ Embalmed in the herats of an/ admiring World./ Feby. 22. 1832/ CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION".

Marchers wearing ribbons on clothing and hats at processions to identify them as members of a group is long-standing tradition. Often printed on silk and pinned to garments, ribbons worn at processions were intended to be used just once or only a handful of times. Few ribbons from the early 1800s survive to the present day. This is the oldest ribbon in the collection of the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library. It is engraved with an image George Washington and commemorated the 1832 centennial of his birth. The owner likely wore this simple ribbon pinned to his coat at a gathering observing this anniversary.