|
The True Story Behind This Beloved Emblem of the craft in Germany. |
It was soon after Hitler's rise to power in 1934, it became apparent that Freemasonry was in danger. In the same year the German Grand Lodge of the Sun (a pre-war German Grand Lodges), realized the problems facing them and elected to wear a little blue flower, the forget-me-not, in place of the traditional Square and Compasses, as a mark of identity for Masons. It was hoped that the new symbol 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 recognizable means of identification or become extinct.
Throughout the entire Nazi era, a little blue flower in a lapel
marked a Brother. In the Concentration Camps and 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 accepted 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 Convert of the United Grand Lodges of Germany AF
& AM, in 1948, the pin was adopted as an official Masonic emblem
honoring 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 perhaps the most widely worn pin among Freemasons
in Germany. In most of our Lodges in Germany, the Forget-Me-Not is
presented to new Master Masons, at which time it's history is briefly explained.