What is "shriners"

Shrine \Shrine\ (shr[imac]n), n. [OE. schrin, AS. scr[=i]n, from L. scrinium a case, chest, box.]

1. A case, box, or receptacle, especially one in which are deposited sacred relics, as the bones of a saint.

2. Any sacred place, as an altar, tromb, or the like.

   Too weak the sacred shrine guard.
   --Byron.

3. A place or object hallowed from its history or associations; as, a shrine of art.

4. Short for

   Ancient Arabic Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, a secret fraternal organization professedly originated by one Kalif Alu, a son-in-law of Mohammed, at Mecca, in the year of the Hegira 25 (about 646 a. d.) In the modern order, established in the United States in 1872, only Knights Templars or thirty-second degree Masons are eligible for admission, though the order itself is not Masonic. A member of the order is popularly called a Shriner, and the order itself is sometimes called the Shriners.

Shriners International, also commonly known as The Shriners, is a society established in 1870 and is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, USA. It is an appendant body to Freemasonry.

Shriners International describes itself as a fraternity based on fun, fellowship, and the Masonic principles of brotherly love, relief, and truth. There are approximately 350,000 members from 195 temples (chapters) in the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Mexico, the Republic of Panama, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Europe, and Australia. The organization is best known for the Shriners Hospitals for Children that it administers, and the red fezzes that members wear.

The organization was previously known as Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (A.A.O.N.M.S.) or Shriners North America. The name was changed in 2010 across North America, Central America, South America, Europe, and Southeast Asia.