what does the checkered border on the tracing board mean and do the old writers agree

The indented or tessellated border surrounding the mosaic pavement on the tracing board is interpreted in markedly different ways by Masonic writers, showing a distinct lack of agreement over time.

W. Finch gives an astronomical reading, holding that the border refers to the planets in their several revolutions, which form a skirt-work surrounding the sun 2.

W. L. Wilmshurst offers a spiritual and mystical reading 1. He interprets the border as representing Divine Presence and Providence, which surrounds and embraces temporal human existence 1. In Wilmshurst's view, while the black and white checkered floor below symbolizes the inherent dualities of earthly life—such as good and evil, or joy and pain—the surrounding border typifies a higher divine condition that envelops and transcends those worldly opposites 1.

Albert C. Mackey notes that while the mosaic pavement, the indented tassel, and the blazing star appear together in the earliest ritual traditions of the eighteenth century as ornaments of the lodge 3, early operative and speculative records offer almost no direct explanation as to why these specific designs were combined within a single rectangular frame 3.

William Preston explicitly addresses the indented or tessellated border in the fifth section of his First Degree lecture, classifying it alongside the mosaic pavement and the blazing star as one of the three ornaments of the lodge, as an article on the Regional Grand Lodge of Northern India's website notes. Preston provides an astronomical reading of the symbol, moralising it as a representation of the planets forming a border around the central sun.

The chequered design of black and white squares on the floor of the lodge is among the oldest symbols in Craft Masonry, appearing in the earliest eighteenth-century rituals as one of the three ornaments of the lodge 34. Early Masonic records contain almost no explicit explanation of its origins or initial meaning 3, leading later writers to offer varying interpretations.

A common moral reading treats the alternating stones as an emblem of human existence, checkered with good and evil 3. Early Masons traditionally associated the floor pattern with Solomon's Temple, an idea likely drawn from biblical references such as Gabbatha, though the term "mosaic" etymologically derives from Greek and Latin artistic terms rather than Moses 3.

Writers differ when expanding on its philosophical significance. Albert Pike reads the squares as an emblem of dualism, symbolizing the cosmic conflict between good and evil principles found in ancient Zoroastrian and Egyptian creeds 3. Practical readings also point to its function in governing ceremonial movement, symbolizing ordered conduct and instructing the candidate in the correct position of the feet and right-angled turns during circumambulation 3.

W. L. Wilmshurst offers a spiritual interpretation based on the ritual statement that the pavement is for the high priest to walk upon 1. He argues that every Mason must become the high priest of his own personal temple, interpreting "walking upon" the chequered floor as a call to dominate and transcend the dualities of earthly life—rising above pleasure, pain, good, and evil by keeping the lower sensual nature in subjection beneath his feet 1.