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The
Lodge badge By Alan Bevins
A coat of arms in medieval times was a coat over his armour on which
a knight displayed designs to show his identity. He also wore a helmet
on top of which was a three-dimensional model, as a further part of
his identity. His followers wore similar but shorter coats with the
main element of the knight's design on them, and would rally behind
a flag or banner on which again the main part of his design was drawn,
all intended as a means of cementing their part in the 'team'.
In the same way, a lodge would have a stylised form of coat of arms
bearing the distinctive design which the Founders saw as their unique
identity. This would be further emphasised in a banner, and with breast
jewels as personal forms of the Lodge identity to feel part of the
organisation. |
The modern coat of arms carries the token items of the medieval
identity, a shield, a crest (a three-dimensional design on a wreath),
a garter. This badge does not include a helmet or a mantle, a battle-torn
or tattered representation of the cloth used to shield the back
of the helmet from the sun.
So far
I have found only a few references to the design of the Lodge badge.
The first is a comment in a set of minutes dated 6th August 1909,
four months before the Lodge was Consecrated, where a "Jewel
Committee" submitted a design of a coat of arms for approval.
This was approved with minor alterations. A printer Mr. Worthington
was then given the task of drawing up an artist's drawing of that
and "the United Masters Jewel". The meeting thanked W
Bro. Stanley Milroy for the two designs. He was a member of Ara
No 1, and its Master in 1908/9.
A few meetings later the motto and its translation were given. There
was comment later that the shield included designs alluding to the
four Constitutions in the quartering, and also repeated the translation
of the motto. This was in a copy of a Transactions of 1972. A couple
of other comments were in response to questions from members, though
none of these actually gave any detail.
In 1933, the regular Transactions began to include the Lodge badge
and in 1935 for a whole year the badge used was that of Ara Lodge
No 348, which testifies to the similarities of design. It was a
year before this error was rectified. Possibly the printer had chosen
the wrong printing block.
In the absence of a full explanation of the badge itself, however,
a certain amount of conjecture can be indulged.
The
central feature like many heraldic devices is a quartered shield.
The shape of the shield is not a symmetrical form and is a tournament
"a Bouche" shield. The significance of the choice of that
type of shield I am unable to discover, but there is such a shield
on the Scottish Grand Lodge Certificate issued to Master Masons.
I include diagrams later of various badges of about 1909 when the
United Masters Lodge was founded.
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| A
description of the badge is from left and right as you look at the
badge |
| The
quarter on the top left of the Lodge shield, represents
New Zealand and is an arrangement of four gold stars in the form
of the Southern Cross on a red background. This is present on the
old Grand Lodge of New Zealand badge as five stars, changed in 1990
to four stars, to match the New Zealand national flag. The other
three quarters in the Grand Lodge of New Zealand badge, itself a
representation of the origins of the lodges in the Country, are
the three lions of England, the harp of Ireland and the single lion
of Scotland. These emblems form part of the UK Royal standard. |
| The
top right quarter is a gold tower on a blue background.
The left side of the United Grand Lodge of England coat of arms
has three of these in an arrangement the same as the 14th century
Mason’s Company of London and used by many Grand Lodges around
the world. The diagram in this article shows the arms of the United
Grand Lodge of England used unofficially, as it had not been approved
by the proper heraldic body, from 1813 to 1919, when a proper coat
of arms was approved and given Royal assent. The shape and detail
varied over the years as there was no definitive approved design.
There is another version at the end of this paper. |
| The
bottom left quarter of the shield has an interesting story.
The original design of 1909 shows a right arm with the hand holding
a trowel, which is the ancient emblem used in the seals of Irish
lodges, though not included in the badge of the Grand Lodge of Ireland.
See the diagrams here of the two Irish lodge seals. During the period
1916 to 1918 the trowel was changed to a maul. The reason for this
has yet to be found. |
| The
bottom right quarter in the shield is a gold St.
Andrew’s cross on a red background. That cross is a well known
feature of Scottish symbolism. It appears on the Scottish Grand
Lodge certificate as a wooden cross. |
The
crest on the top of the badge is the arm resting
on the wreath. In the original badge the wreath was made of laurel
leaves, but when the change was made from the trowel to the maul,
the wreath became a twisted roll of cloth. The hand is holding
an axe. It is repeated on the Founder's jewel and is explained
further on another page.
The
Latin motto on the United Masters badge: ‘Honos habet onus’,
is translated as ‘Honour entails responsibility’.
The 'United Masters Jewel' mentioned below was probably the Founder's
jewel. The Merit jewel and the Past Master's jewel include the
mural crown similar to that in the Ara No 348 badge.
The three seals below, and those of the two Irish lodges, 428
and 609, and the Grand Lodge of NZ. Further below are the Scottish
extract and the United Grand Lodge of England coat of arms from
certificates. The two Ara Lodge badges are from the History of
the Ara Lodges by George Gribbin 1909.
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The badge used by the Grand Lodge of New Zealand before 1990
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Seal
of Harmony Lodge No 428 at Ballymena, 1920 |
Seal of Lodge of Friendly
Brothers
No 609, at Belfast, 1874
|
The
Lodge badge has been shown on Lodge paperwork such as letterhead
and the regular Transactions for many years.
The original design was drawn up just before Consecration in 1909
and appears on the Agenda. It was still used in 1915, on an Installation
agenda.
Sometime between then and 1919 it changed. A Past Master’s
breast jewel engraved about October 1919 (M. Blair Master Oct 1918
- Oct 1919) was changed in that part which appears on the jewel,
the central shield. The lower left quarter signifying the Irish
Constitution was altered from depicting a trowel to a maul. The
crest, an arm resting on a wreath may have been altered at the same
time as it changed from a laurel wreath to a twisted cloth of two
colours. The top right quarter was shaded as blue not red. The shading
in heraldry to denote colours when in black and white for red and
blue are; vertical lines (red) and horizontal (blue).
In September 1960, Bro Norman B Spencer a renowned Masonic scholar
in answering a query about the badge in the Transactions Vol XIII
No 15 , said " . . . . The hand holding the maul is found in
the crest of nearly every Lodge in the Irish Constitution."
Lodge seals for Irish Lodges invariably show a hand holding a trowel.
It is amazing how such a scholar got it fundamentally wrong!
In
March 1972, when succeeding to the Chair as Master Bro Bryce Major,
a well-known authority on heraldry and like matters, re-drew the
badge for a clearer printer’s block. However, he perpetuated
the wrong tool (maul) and the wrong wreath (cloth). He corrected
the shading for the English quarter. At the same time he drew the
crest smaller than before.
March 1974 saw a further change when it reverted to that before
March 1972..
From Oct1993 the design reverted to that of Bro Major, in 1972.
In May 2002 the design reverted to the original of 1909. Bro Alan
Bevins, copied that on the Consecration agenda, thus restoring the
proper Irish emblem in the lower left hand quarter and the laurel
wreath in the crest and the proper proportions as envisaged by the
Founders.
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United Grand Lodge of
England before 1920
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The
diagram right is extracted from the top part of a Scottish Grand
Lodge certificate of
1851 showing the St Andrew's cross and below it on the pedestal
an "a Bouche" shield. |
|
Ara Lodge N0 348 IC |
Ara
Lodge No 348 (Irish)
The circle in the form of a garter is used in many heraldic devices.
In this case it is similar to that used by Ara Lodge No 348 (Irish)
and Ara No 1 (NZ), including the motto 'Audi Vide Tace'. The whole
badge has similarities to those lodges. Ara Lodge No 1 was formed
by members of Ara 348 when the Grand Lodge of New Zealand was created
in 1890.
|
Ara
Lodge No 1 NZC |
Scottish Coat of Arms of St Andrew No 418
|
Another version of
the old coat of arms of the United Grand Lodge of England |
Scottish Crest |
Jewels
of United Masters Lodge by Bro Alan Bevins |
The
Founder's Jewel.
 |
In
the minutes of the Lodge Consecration meeting on 9th December
1909, this appeared: 'The W.M. announced that the M.W. the G.M.
had granted permission to the members of the lodge to wear a founder's
jewel. He therefore moved that the design as prepared by W.Bro.
S.W. be adopted. Seconded by P. Luckie. The design was passed
around for the inspection of the members and the motion was duly
carried.'
The
S.W., the Senior Warden, was W.Bro Stanley Milroy. It had been
mentioned in the minutes of a meeting prior to the Lodge consecration
that his designs for the Lodge badge and the 'United Masters jewel'
had been approved by the prospective Founders on the 20th November
1909.
The fact that the design had been sent to the Grand Master for
approval before the lodge itself approved it could mean that the
'United Masters jewel' was the Founder's jewel, agreed by them
in advance of the Consecration.
At
a meeting on the 4th February, the first following the Consecration,
the minutes said: 'The W.M. announced that the Jewel was now ready,
and was obtainable from W.Bro. Page. who had made a splendid reproduction
of the design.'
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On the back
of the some of the Founder's jewels in the Lodge collection is the manufacturer's
stamped mark 'C.M.P.' in a rectangle. This was W.Bro Charles M. Page,
one of the 124 Founders. A few in the Lodge Museum are also stamped 'silver'
but most have no such mark so are unlikely to be silver. Perhaps the Founders,
who probably paid for their own jewel, were given a choice of silver or
not. There would obviously be a difference in price. Some of the jewels
in the collection are engraved with the Founder's name.
The top bar has 'Founder'. The attachment to the ribbon has 'United Masters
Lodge' around the outside, 'No.167 N.Z.' across the middle and '1909'
at the bottom. The pendant is hollow and quite large and heavy for a breast
jewel. The implement held by the hand is a small axe, as the largest portion
is in front of the handle and the head is pointed in the direction of
it's movement as an axe would be used. The main construction material
in NZ in the early days as well as now, is wood. Thus the axe would be
more widely used than a mason's gavel or maul.
Many lodge jewels which I have seen, have the lodge badge or a substantial
part of it making up the founder's jewel as well as the Past Master's
jewel. For United Masters Lodge the only part of the Lodge Badge in the
Founder's jewel is the arm holding the axe. In heraldic terms it is a
right arm 'couped', that is cut from the body, just above the point at
which the workman's long sleeve has been rolled up and 'embowed' that
is bent at the elbow. This is very indicative of the long sleeved shirts
rolled to above the elbow by workmen in the early 1900s. The emblems depicting
England, Ireland, Scotland and NZ, are the rose, shamrock, thistle and
fern, whereas in the Lodge badge they are the tower, arm, cross and stars.
The
Past Masters Jewel.
 |
I
have found no description of this jewel in old records. The first
mention of it is in the minutes of the Installation of the second
Master when the first Master W.Bro George Gribbin was presented
with a Past Master's jewel. The minute said the jewel was 'subscribed
for by the members of the Lodge.'
The
top bar is deeper than is normally found in the usual Past Master's
jewel. It has 'United Masters' on the upper line, with 'Lodge No.
167' below that. The ribbon has the standard Past Master's emblem
upon it, the square with the diagram of Euclid's 47th proposition
suspended below it.
The
pendant has the 'a Bouche' shield surrounded by a circle, but not
a garter as on the Lodge badge, on which are the three words, 'Audi
Vide Tace'. The circle is surmounted by a crown in the style of
a brick wall. Above this is the arm with the hand-held axe. The
curly bits below the crown are similar to the standard heraldic
'wreath' of twisted cloth used in medieval times by the wearer to
support the crest and hide the join between the crest and the helm.
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The
Merit Jewel.
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A
Notice of motion appeared at a meeting on 27th September 1953:
"That a Medal be struck for presentation to Brethren in appreciation
or meritorious services rendered to the Lodge. The design of the
Medal shall be the same as now presented to Past Masters of the
Lodge, but without any emblem of office and without the crest, and
shall be appropriately inscribed on the back. It shall be awarded
only by resolution of the Lodge, passed after a recommendation in
favour of same shall have been received from the Past Masters of
the Lodge."
The
motion was carried
"after it being fully explained that it was not the intention
of giving the jewel except for services rendered to the Lodge over
a period of time".
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The
top bar is the same as the Past Master's jewel but with a circlet
braised on so as to hang the pendant. The pendant is the lodge shield
surrounded by the circle but without the mural crown, arm and axe.
There are some in the lodge collection with names engraved on the
back and others without any identification at all.
The first was awarded to W. Bro. H. Purdy in September 1953. He
had been Director of Ceremonies for some time. He received a 'bar'
to the jewel in October 1972 for having been an officer of the Lodge
over 20 years.
W. Bro. R. F. Newton received the jewel in October 1954 for service
as Secretary.
In May 1970, 15 members were awarded the jewel for their part in
performing the 1760 era ceremony of "The Lodge of Antiquity
No. 0" on many occasions in several locations throughout the
country. Bros. WJ Angell, TR Bird, D Chalmers, OW Drever, CG GLadding,
M Hynes, EB Isham, HA Marks, GH McGibbon, AW McIlwraith, JS Pontin,
IFE Wilson, H Wyatt, JS Hester, and BC Major. Bro. RF Newton was
not awarded the jewel as he had already received it earlier. Also,
Bros. JP Glenie and F Howarth were elected to Honorary membership,
for being the key organisers of the Lodge of Antiquity.
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Coats
of Arms of the Four Constitutions in Current use today |
Grand Lodge of Ireland |
Grand Lodge of Scotland |
United Grand Lodge of England |
Grand
Lodge of New Zealand |
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