| THE COAT OF ARMS OF THE GRAND
LODGE OF NEWFOUNDLAND & LABRADOR A.F. & A.M.
Helen R. Wilson, sponsor
of the Grant of Arms, presented the Coat of Arms to
the Founding Grand Master, Most Worshipful Brother
Herman W. Starkes, in the presence of the Grand Master,
Most Worshipful Brother George Cull, of the Grand
Lodge of Newfoundland and Labrador at the regular
meeting of Avalon Lodge Number 2 on February 8th,
2001. The mother Lodge of which the sponsors
Father (WBRo. E. Fred Barnes), Father-in-law (WBro
Alfred M. Wilson) and husband (RWBro Alfred P. (Fred)
Wilson) are Past Masters. |
![[Grand Lodge Coat of Arms]](images/cofa5.gif) |
Description (in general)...
The Coat of Arms of the Grand Lodge of Newfoundland and Labrador consists
of a shield surmounted by a crest, supported by a ribbon with a motto
thereon.
The shield in blue represents the North Atlantic Ocean surrounding
our shores including the many lakes, rivers and streams of our
Province. The compasses, in gold, a Masonic symbol, divides
the shield into three parts.
The Caribou, also in gold represent the two parts of our province,
Labrador where there is found the largest free ranging herd
in the world and the Island where caribou also roam. The sailing
ship within the extended points of the compasses, consisting
of seven white sails, signifies the strong connection with the
sea; fishing, trading, and our ties with Great Britain.
For the Crest, in gold, on a wreath of the colours a representation
of an ark supported on either side by a seraphs rising from
a bed of seven Pitcher Plants, the Provincial flower, with the
motto in Hebrew characters "Holiness to the Lord".
The motto on the ribbon below in Latin is "Audi Vide Tace",
which put in plain English is to say, "Hear and See but
Keep your Council".
The formal Grant of Arms reads...
To ALL TO WHOM these Presents shall come or
whom the same may in any way concert, GREETING:
BY Robert Douglas Watt, Chief Herald of Canada;
WHEREAS Herman Wilfred Starkes of the City
of St. John's in the Province of Newfoundland, First Grand Master
of the GRAND LODGE OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR of Ancient,
Free and Accepted Masons, has represented to the Chief Herald
of Canada that the Grand Lodge was consecrated on the lst day
of November 1997, a union of 31 separate Lodges as follows:
Saint John's, Avalon, Hiram, Victoria, Fidelity, Notre Dame,
Twillingate, Whiteway, Botwood, Clift, Corner Brook, Landfall,
Cabot, Lewisporte, St. Georges, Gander, Polaris, West Gate,
Canam, Northern Lights, Cormack, Neptune, Clarenville, Westmoorland,
MicMac, Airways, McLeod, Union, First Colony, Pillars and Unity
the oldest of the founding Lodges having been consecrated in
1848, these lodges having their roots in one or other of the
United Grand Lodge of England, the Grand Lodge of Scotland and
the Grand Lodge of Nov& Scotia, with the earliest Masonic
Lodge in Newfoundland being held in 1743, owing its origin to
the Provincial Grand Lodge of Boston, in the then Royal Province
of Massachusetts, and further that it is his wish, for and on
behalf of all of the Brethren of the Grand Lodge aforesaid that
the Grand Lodge be granted armorial bearings by lawful authority,
which resolution is supported by Helen Roberta Barnes Wilson,
in honour of the Masons of her family;
AND WHEREAS a Warrant dated the 16th day of February 1999 has
been issued by Lieutenant-General James Cyrille Gervais, Commander
of the Order of Military Merit, Deputy Herald Chancellor of
the Canadian Heraldic Authority, authorizing the Chief Herald
of Canada to grant to the GRAND LODGE OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
such armorial bearings as are deemed fitting and appropriate;
NOW KNOW YOU that pursuant to the authority vested in His Excellency
the Right Honourable Romeo Adrien LeBlanc, a Member of the Queen's
Privy Council for Canada, Chancellor and Principal Companion
of the Order of Canada, Chancellor and Commander of the Order
of Military Merit, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of
Canada, to exercise the armorial prerogative of Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II as Queen of Canada, by Letters Patent dated
the 4th day of June 1988, and the terms of my Commission of
Office, I, the Chief Herald of Canada do by these Presents grant
and assign to the GRAND LODGE OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR the
following Arms: Azure a sailing ship hull and masts Or sails
Argent on the upper bar of two bars in base Argent in centre
chief a compass open the two arms extended to the base between
two caribou statant respectant Or; And for a Crest: On a helmet
mantled Azure doubled Or within a wreath of these colours issuant
from a chaplet of pitcher plants in flower Or an ark Azure handles
Or supported by two Seraphim respectant also Or; And for a Mottoes,
on a scroll below: AUDI VIDE TACE and on a scroll above: [HOLINESS
TO THE LORD] (in Hebrew);
AS THE SAME are more plainly depicted and entered in the painting
hereunto annexed in Volume III, page of the Public Register
of Arms, Flags and Badges of Canada to be borne and used for
ever hereafter by the GRAND LODGE OF NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR
on seals, corporate insignia or otherwise all according to the
Law of Arms of Canada;
GIVEN under my hand and the seal of the Canadian Heraldic Authority
at Rideau Hall in the City of Ottawa this twenty-second day
of February in the year of Our Lord One thousand nine hundred
and ninety-nine, in the fifth year of His Excellency's service
in office and in the forty-eighth year of Her Majesty's reign.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF Judith Anne LaRocque, Herald Chancellor,
and Lieutenant-General James Cyrille Gervais, Deputy Herald
Chancellor, have witnessed this action with their signatures.
The painting was rendered by Ms. Linda Nicholson of Ottawa.
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October 9, 2007
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