The True Story Behind The Emblem of the Craft in Germany

As early as 1934, soon after Hitler's rise to power, it became apparent that Freemasonry was in danger. In the same year, the German Grand Lodge of the Sun in Bayreuth (one of the pre-war German Grand Lodges), realised the imminent problems facing them and elected to wear a little white flower, the Forget-Me-Not, in lieu of the traditional Square and Compasses, as a sign of identity for Masons. It was felt that the new emblem would not attract attention from the Nazis, who were in the process of confiscating and appropriating Masonic Lodges and property. Masonry had gone underground and it was necessary that the Brethren have some readily recognisable means of identification.

Throughout the entire Nazi era, a little blue flower in a lapel marked a brother. In the Concentration Camps and in the cities, a little blue Forget-Me-Not distinguished the lapels of those who refused to allow the Light of Masonry to be extinguished.

In 1947, when the Grand Lodge of the Sun was reopened in Bayreuth by Past Grand Master Bayer, a little blue pin in the shape of a Forget-Me-Not was proposed and adopted as the official emblem of the first annual convention of those who survived the bitter years of semi-darkness, bringing the Light of Masonry once again into the Temples.

At the first Annual Convent of the United Grand Lodges of Germany, AF & AM in 1948, the pin was adopted as an official Masonic emblem, honouring those valiant Brethren who carried their work on under adverse conditions. At the Grand Masters' Conference in the United States, Dr. Theodore Vogel, the Grand Master of the newly-formed VGLvD, AF & AM presented one of the pins to each of the representatives of the Grand Jurisdictions with which the VGLvD, AF & AM enjoyed Fraternal relations.

Thus did a simple flower blossom forth into a meaningful emblem of the Fraternity and become perhaps the most widely worn pin amongst Freemasons in Germany. In most of our Lodges, the Forget-Me-Not is presented to new Master Masons, at which time its history is briefly explained.