Wartime Symbol
The small blue flower that became a secret sign of brotherhood — worn by Freemasons during the years of National Socialist persecution to identify one another when the lodge could not meet openly.
The Flower of Brotherhood
The Forget-Me-Not flower (Myosotis) had long been used as a Masonic emblem in Germany before the darkest chapter of the order's history began. In 1934, the National Socialist regime declared Freemasonry incompatible with the state, branding the Craft a tool of international conspiracy.
The 'Grand Lodge of the Sun' (one of the prewar German Grand Lodges, located in Bayreuth) realizing the grave dangers involved, adopted the little blue Forget-Me-Not flower as a substitute for the traditional square and compasses. It was felt the flower would provide brethren with an outward means of identification while lessening the risk of possible recognition in public by the Nazis, who were engaged in wholesale confiscation of all Masonic Lodge properties. Freemasonry went undercover, and this delicate flower assumed its role as a symbol of Masonry surviving throughout the reign of darkness.
In the face of this persecution, German Freemasons turned to a humble symbol. The Forget-Me-Not badge, a small pin bearing the blue five-petalled flower, had already been used at the Hamburg Grand Lodge Winter Relief charity collections of 1934 and 1938. The small metal lapel pin was identical to those sold for other charitable purposes, making it inconspicuous.
During the years when lodges could not meet, when the square and compass could not be displayed, and when a brother's membership could result in imprisonment or worse, the Forget-Me-Not became a discreet way to identify oneself to other Freemasons — a silent question and answer in a time of silence.
"Forget me not" — the flower's message carried a double meaning: remember those who suffered, and do not forget what was lost.— Masonic tradition, Germany, 1933–1945
When the 'Grand Lodge of the Sun' was reopened in Bayreuth in 1947, by Past Grand Master Beyer, a little pin in the shape of a Forget-Me-Not was officially adopted as the emblem of that first annual convention of the brethren who had survived the bitter years of semi-darkness to rekindle the Masonic Light.
At the First Annual Convent of the new United Grand Lodge of Germany AF & AM (VGLvD), in 1948, the pin was adopted as an official Masonic emblem in honor of thousands of valiant Brethren who carried on their masonic work under adverse conditions.
Today, brethren throughout the world wear the Forget-Me-Not as a lapel pin as a reminder of what was endured, and as a pledge that the values of Freemasonry will never again be silenced.