JRO UAM

by Nickole Winterkorn
(west chester, ohio USA)

This necklace with the letters JNO UAM was found in my grandfathers belongings when he passed in 2009.

He was born in 1924, served in WWII. From the little bit I can find about this I'm fairly sure it's Masonic, but I don't think he was ever a Mason.

So, I'm guessing it came from his father, who passed long before I was born, so I could be wrong. It looks to say "JNO UAM" anyone have any ideas. Sorry the picture quality is poor.

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Simon's Reply:

Hi Nickole,

The letters are actually JRO UAM, which stand for the "Junior Order of United American Mechanics", begun in 1853.

The JRO UAM is still in existence. Here is the JRO UAM website.

Freemasonry is not the only fraternity in existence in the world. It is simply the oldest. There are countless fraternities and lodges such as the Indpendent Order of Odd Fellows, Moose, Elk, United Order of Redmen, United Order of Workmen, etc. There are over 200 fraternal organizations, many of which sprang up in the early to late 1800s in the United States.

I have mentioned some of them on my page entitled Masonic Insurance


The mottos and missions (virtues and principles) of all of these fraternal organizations revolve around liberty, freedom, morality and ethical behavior. To my knowledge, much like Freemasonry, each of these organizations are God-centric,..that is, each uphold and believe in uniting in brotherhood to create a better world under God's guidance.

As to why their logo displays a Masonic square and compasses logo, I cannot say. You may wish to contact the JRO UAM and ask them.

Thanks for writing, Nickole.

If anyone else has comments to add about this piece of jewelry, please feel free to share using the form on the Masonic Jewelry page.

Simon