Under Robert Morrison’s direction, the first badge was completed by a local jeweler on June 12, 1849, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Morrison suggested the shape of a shield with an eye affixed to the upper portion, and John McMillan Wilson proposed a scroll fixed to the lower area. Morrison added that the Greek letters ‘ΦΔΘ’ shall be inscribed on Wilson’s scroll. Morrison stated that “the scroll is essential; the eye is not though….”

In Morrison’s directions to the jeweler, he wrote, “The whole pin is to be solid gold, of the thickness of a new Spanish quarter or thereabouts, the edge to be left at your discretion, keeping in mind that severe plainness and beauty are desired. The back is to be left plain, as that will be the place for the wearer’s name. The general outline, of course, to be, as the drawing represents, a handsome shield.”

The badge has been changed several times but still symbolizes the sacred brotherhood of those wearing it.