Pigpen Cipher

This online Pigpen cipher tool supports both directions of the Masonic cipher. To encode a message, choose an alphabet variant and type A–Z text; the matching grid, cross and dot symbols appear immediately. Word spaces are preserved, while digits, punctuation and non-Latin letters are skipped. You can download the rendered message as a PNG image.

To decode a message, select the variant used by the sender, switch to Decode and compare each mark with the on-screen Pigpen alphabet. Tap the matching symbols in order to build the plaintext, adding spaces between words when needed. This is a manual visual decoder: it does not upload images, scan handwriting or perform OCR.

No password or secret keyword is required. The selected alphabet layout acts as the key, so the sender and recipient must use the same Standard, Variant or Rosicrucian mapping. All encoding and decoding interactions run locally in your browser.

The Pigpen cipher—also known as the Freemason's cipher, Masonic cipher or, with an alternate spelling, Pigpen cypher—is a monoalphabetic substitution system. It replaces every letter with a geometric mark taken from a grid or X-shaped cross. The symbol records the letter's position rather than drawing the letter itself.

Because the selected mapping is fixed, repeated letters produce repeated symbols and word patterns remain visible. The outline identifies a position in a grid or cross, while a dot—or its position in the Rosicrucian layout—distinguishes letters that share the same outline.

Pigpen became closely associated with Freemasonry in the eighteenth century, although related geometric alphabets existed in different forms. Today it is best suited to puzzles, treasure hunts, escape rooms and classroom demonstrations—not secure communication.

The reference below contains three complete but different Pigpen alphabets. Select the same alphabet used to create the message before encoding or decoding: a familiar-looking symbol may represent another letter under a different layout.

Standard (Masonic)

This is the best-known Freemason's cipher alphabet. A–I occupy an undotted 3×3 grid, J–R repeat the same grid shapes with centre dots, S–V use four undotted sections of an X, and W–Z repeat those X sections with dots.

Variant (grid & cross)

This alternating layout starts like Standard with A–I in an undotted grid, but assigns J–M to the undotted X. N–V then use the dotted grid and W–Z use the dotted X. The mappings therefore diverge from Standard at J and are not interchangeable.

Rosicrucian

This layout uses only a 3×3 grid and no X-shaped symbols. Each cell holds up to three consecutive letters; a dot placed on the left, centre or right identifies which letter in that cell is meant.

To read any chart, first match the symbol's outline to a cell or X section, then check whether a dot is absent, centred or offset. The letter printed beside that exact symbol is the plaintext value used by the manual decoder.