If you don’t think astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, country crooner Brad Paisley and race car drivers Sam Hornish, Jr. and David Ragan have anything in common besides celebrity statuses, you need the Shriner Primer. If you think that “Potentate” is the strength of hot sauce that lies somewhere between “mild” and “hot” at your favorite burrito joint, you need the Shriner Primer.

And if you think the only thing Shriners - those guys in the odd-looking, tasseled, red hats in your local Independence Day parade - do is ride around in tiny cars, you really need the Shriner Primer.

Consider the following information on Shriners International. Spend a few minutes reading about us, and we hope you’ll have a better insight into the Shriners, the fraternity, Freemasonry and Shriners Hospitals for Children. At the very least, you’ll be able to amaze your friends with your knowledge of American trivia. At the very most, you’ll be inclined to continue learning more!

Shriners International is, at its most basic level, a fraternity. It all started in Manhattan back in 1870, when some gents - members of what’s widely considered the world’s oldest fraternity, Masonry - were hanging out at their favorite tavern. The guys felt like their band of brothers needed a little spicing up. They thought Masonry, which traces its roots to stonemasons and craftsmen of the Middle Ages, was a tad too focused on ritual. These guys wanted a fraternity that stressed fun and fellowship. Leave it up to an analytical mind - Walter M. Fleming, M.D. - and an artistic type - Billy Florence, an actor - to take that idea and run with it. Florence conceptualized the idea for a Near East-themed organization after attending a party thrown by an Arabian diplomat.

Fleming added the structure to Florence’s proposed pomp-and-circumstance, drafting the fraternity’s name, initiation rites, rituals and rules. Together, the guys designed the new fraternity’s emblem, devised a salutation and determined the red fez with a black tassel would be the group’s official headgear. And local Shriners chapters, it was decided, would be called Temples.

The first such chapter, Mecca Shriners, met in New York City in 1872. Thanks to a pretty good public relations campaign on behalf of the new fraternity’s governing body - known tongue-twistingly as The Imperial Council of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine - word about the group spread fairly quickly, even without the Internet, PDAs and cell phones. Membership grew rapidly across the United States in the early 1900s and even spread to Canada, Mexico and Panama. Today, there are approximately 400,000 Shriners, belonging to 191 chapters in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and the Republic of Panama.

Becoming a Shriner isn’t as simple as walking into a Temple, paying dues and donning a fez. To become a Shriner, a man first must be a Master Mason. Why? Let’s back up. The fraternity of Freemasonry is the oldest, largest and most widely known fraternity in the world. It’s impossible to Google the exact date Freemasonry began, but we do know it dates back hundreds of years to when stonemasons and other craftsmen gathered after work in shelter houses, or lodges. Over time, the men organized into Masonic guilds, and the tools of their trade - the square and compass - became the symbol of their brotherhood. Time passed, and the need for Masons declined. So, Masonry evolved into an organization that began to accept members who weren’t craftsmen. Today, Masonry is built upon a foundation of improving character and strengthening communities, though the square and compass are still the symbols of the fraternal brotherhood.

Just as Shriners have Temples, Masonry has a basic organizational unit called the Blue Lodge or Craft Lodge. (Groups of Lodges are organized under governing bodies known as Grand Lodges.) Members of the Lodges are required to read up on their fraternity and earn a series of Masonic degrees. Once they’ve completed the third and final degree, members are titled Master Masons. Of course, for those men wishing to delve deeper into Freemasonry - in essence, continuing their Masonic education - there are additional courses of study, known as the Scottish Rite and York Rite. Once a Mason earns the Master Mason title, he can join the Shriners fraternity. In short, all Shriners are Masons... but not all Masons are Shriners.

Non-Shriners often have a hard time wrapping their heads around some of the rituals, symbols and terminology used in the Shriners fraternity. What’s an Imperial Potentate? How about a Divan? And what’s up with the fezzes?