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A chain on a monument either expresses loss or identifies a fraternal order, and counting the links settles which.
Count them, and check whether any is broken. Three intact links — usually lettered F, L and T — identify a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. A chain with a link snapped through expresses a family or fellowship broken by a death. One is an identification, the other an interpretation, and mistaking the first for the second loses real information about who is buried there.
A broken chain expresses loss; three intact links identify an Odd Fellow. Both are chains on monuments and are easily conflated.
| Broken chain link | Three links (Odd Fellows) | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of links | Any — usually a short run | Exactly three |
| Condition | One link shown open or snapped | All intact |
| Lettering | None | Often F, L and T — Friendship, Love and Truth |
| What it tells you | A conventional expression of loss | That the deceased belonged to a named order |
| Relationship (from Symbolwise's records) | Commonly confused with Three links (Odd Fellows) — A broken chain expresses loss; three intact links identify an Odd Fellow. Both are chains on monuments and are easily conflated. | Commonly confused with Broken chain link — A broken chain expresses loss; three intact links identify an Odd Fellow. Both are chains on monuments and are easily conflated. |
The Odd Fellows reading is an identification and can be stated flatly. The broken-chain reading is conventional and rests on the popular literature.
Independent Order of Odd Fellows
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-20
Tertiary reference. Cited for the form of a motif, its period of use and uncontested historical detail. Never cited for a claim that a motif carries a fixed funerary meaning.
The Association for Gravestone Studies
The Association for Gravestone Studies · retrieved 2026-08-20
A scholarly society for the study of gravemarkers, and the principal counterweight to the popular field-guide literature. Cited for period typology, regional variation, and for the discipline's own caution about attributing fixed meanings to motifs.
The ampersand is a ligature of the Latin word et, still visible in some italic forms where the e and the t can be picked out. The Tironian et is a separate mark descending from a Roman shorthand, shaped like a small seven, and it is in daily public use in Ireland as the written form of 'agus'. A reader who knows only the ampersand takes the other for a numeral, which on a bilingual road sign produces a confidently wrong place name.
A campaign medal is issued to everyone who served in a defined operation for a defined period. A gallantry decoration is awarded to a named individual for a specific act, on a citation, usually after a recommendation and a review. The first is a record of presence, the second of conduct — and a row of campaign medals says nothing about bravery, which is worth knowing before drawing conclusions from a photograph.
Look at the palms. Praying hands are pressed flat against one another with the fingers pointing up. Clasped hands are gripped in a handshake, shown from the side. They carry different readings, and on clasped hands the carved cuffs tell you more than the gesture does — a feminine cuff clasping a masculine one conventionally marks a married couple.
Look for the star. A crescent on its own is the astronomical symbol for the Moon, used in almanacs and calendars, and carries no religious meaning at all. A crescent paired with a star is a distinct symbol widely associated with Islam and appearing on several national flags. A bare crescent on a calendar is not a religious statement.