It seems suspicious to many that American banknotes depict a pyramid with a luminous eye. We checked how reliable the conspiracy theories based on this observation about the connection of Masons with the founding of the United States are.

The pyramid along with a luminous eye, also known as the eye of Providence, or the all -seeing eye, is located on the reverse of the bill with the dignity of one American dollar. There was such a design Accepted In 1935, when images of both sides of the large seal of the United States were placed on the banknote, the eye decorates one of them. According to the official version, this symbol means the power of the American nation and its incessant development. However, supporters of the theory of conspiracy have developed their own interpretation - Allegedly, in this way, the Masons who participated in the creation of a new state perpetuated their contributions.

The development of the first large -press design of the United States I studied The commission, consisting of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, as well as the invited artist Pierre Ezhen du Simlier. Each of them proposed his own sketch. In the version of Du Simiter in the center of the press there was a shield, six parts of which symbolized the places of origin of the main ethnic groups of settlers: England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany and Holland. Around this shield were the “initials” of 13 colonies that formed a new state. Figures of freedom and soldier were located on the sides, from below - the motto “out of many one”, and the all -seeing eye crowned. The option of Du Sytier was considered in August 1776. Although the final design, approved Only six years later, much less allegorical, some of the elements proposed by the artist included in it. So the all -seeing eye was on the back of the press.

Although the eye of providence is now tightly associated with Freemasonry, the situation was completely different in the 1770s and 1780s. At that time the image Used Only a few Masons in private, and this symbol generally accepted among the “free mason” became At least one and a half decades after the approval of the printing design, when Thomas Smith Webb in 1797 Published The book The Freemason's Monitor, or Illustrations of Masonry. It was since then that the symbol has entered the traditional Masonic iconography.

It is much more likely that Du Simrier borrowed the image from his colleagues, the artists, including those who lived a few centuries earlier. For example, a luminous eye enclosed in a pyramid depicted In the picture of the Italian Pantormo, written in 1525. The symbol was also used in architecture - it can be found, for example, on The column of the Holy Trinity in the Czech Olomouce (1716–1754) and in Aachen Cathedral (1766). For centuries, this symbol has been associated with God observing people. The image probably played the same role on sketches for a large press - the creator “looks after” the young American nation.

Separately, we note that modern researchers do not have evidence connecting Du Syguier with Masons. Of all the compositions of the commissions that were engaged in the creation of a large press, only Benjamin Franklin can definitely Count To the "free mason". At the same time, the ideas proposed by Franklin were not used in the final design. Moreover, how He emphasizes The researcher of the conspiracy theories Ilya Yablokov, at the end of the 18th century, in the domestic policy of the United States, anti-Masonic sentiments played a large role-it is unlikely that any Masonic symbol at that time could fall into one of the state attributes.