The heart in hand symbol is widely recognized for its association with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. This selection of staffs and finials demonstrates the sheer variety that was available during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Several were sold by large American regalia houses; others are individualized examples that may have been made by an artist for his own use, or as a commission or gift.

The heart in hand incorporates values of candor, frankness, and sincerity, as well as the lesson that “whatever the hand finds to do, the heart should go forth in wisdom.” It features in the ritual teachings for the Second, or Love, Degree, and when mounted on a staff, was carried by the Conductor as he led initiates and visitors around the lodge. It was also used as the symbol of the Past Grand. Most regalia catalogs show this type of staff in the official gesture of an open hand, the fingers and thumb pointing up. A few catalogs show the less common gesture of the thumb folded horizontally across the palm. This is described in some nineteenth-century sources as the first phase of a three-part secret Odd Fellows countersign.