~ Officer's Jewels, Badges, or Emblems ~
By Gerald (Jerry) L. Carver
Senior Grand Warden
March 2004
During some of our District Instructional meetings, a few brothers asked me
about the significance of the Worshipful Master and Chaplain being invested with
the jewels of their offices while other Officers were invested with the badges
of their offices and the Tiler was invested with the implement of his office
during the installation ceremony in the Ahiman Rezon and the Masters Black Book.
Some asked “Does this mean that there are only two Officer Jewels in the Lodge?”
In the installation ceremony, the installing officer says to the new Worshipful
Master, I now invest you with this jewel as the badge of your office. In this
sentence it appears that the author of the installation ceremony is using the
words jewel and badge synonymously. Although the installation ceremony refers to
badges for all of the other subordinate Lodge officers except for the Tiler, the
installation ceremony for the Grand Lodge Officers refers to each Grand Lodge
Officer as being invested with a jewel except for the two Grand Wardens who are
invested with the badges of their offices.
Article 70 of the Constitution of the Grand Lodge includes the following “The
Master and Wardens of Lodges, in attendance at Grand Lodge shall wear their
appropriate collars, jewels, and aprons. So according to this article of the
constitution, we know that the Wardens of Lodges also have jewels which were
referred as badges in the installation ceremony.
Also stated in Article 70 is “The jewels of the Grand Lodge Officers shall be
gold, or gilt, and of the following devices;” The device of every Grand Lodge
Officer including the Grand Wardens are listed. Therefore, the constitution
recognizes that the Grand Wardens also have jewels, which were referred to as
badges during the installation ceremony.
Section 159 of the Code of the Grand Lodge includes the following statement “The
Master of a Subordinate Lodge may arrest the jewel of any officer of his Lodge
for such misconduct as in his judgment, would bring reproach upon the Lodge or
the Craft; and he must make such arrest at any time by order of the Grand Lodge
or the Grand Master”. Therefore, the Code of the Grand Lodge recognizes that
every Subordinate Lodge Officer has a jewel although his emblem may have been
referred to as a badge or implement in the installation ceremony.
In “An Encyclopedia of Freemasonry” by Albert G. Mackey, M.D., which was
published in 1875, Mackey writes “Jewels are the names applied to the emblems
worn by the officers of Masonic bodies as distinctive badges of their offices.
For the purpose of reference, the jewels worn in symbolic Lodges are here
appended,
Worshipful Master wears a square, Senior Warden wears a level, Junior Warden
wears a plumb, Treasurer
wears cross keys, Secretary wears cross pens, Senior Deacon wears square and
compass, sun in the center, Junior Deacon wears square and compass, moon in the
center, Steward wears a cornucopia, and Tiler wears a sword. The jewels are of
silver in a subordinate Lodge and of gold in a Grand Lodge”.
After reviewing these various areas of the Grand Lodge’s Code and Constitution
along with the words of Albert Mackey, the renowned Masonic authority, one can
only conclude that every Subordinate Lodge Officer and every Grand Lodge Officer
has a jewel which is the badge or emblem of his office.
Brethren as we come together in Spartanburg on April 22nd and 23rd to hold the
267th Annual Communication of our beloved and historic Grand Lodge, the
Worshipful Masters, the Senior and Junior Wardens and hopefully many other
officers from our Lodges along with your Grand Lodge Officers will be attending
our Annual Communication and proudly wearing the Jewels of our Offices.
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