The Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Royal Ark Mariners, more commonly known as RAM or Mariners, has been under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons since 1871 and governed by the Grand Masters Royal Ark Council.

Lodges are attached to Mark Lodges assuming their Number in Roll and to be a Member the Candidate has to have been advanced as a Mark Master Mason.  There the similarity ends.  In chronological terms it precedes the Mark by hundreds of years because it relates to the building and voyage of Noah's Ark and the Great Flood and has none of the other characters we meet in Freemasonry.

It is thought that it was a Degree for carpenters and woodworkers as in the past those trades were more closely associated with stonemasons than is the case today.  At first it was considered that the Ark Mariner Degree could be conferred in any regular Mark Lodge but on reflection, it was felt that in the interest of both degrees, would be best served by keeping them separate.

Its early history is obscure.  Statutes refer to Grand Lodge being reconstituted in 1772.  The Ceremony in which a Brother is Elevated is taken from the VSL and symbolises wisdom, strength and beauty, which are relevant not only in the construction of the Ark but also for their moral significations to the Candidate as an individual.  The tracing board of the Degree is unusual in that it contains symbols of many of the other orders in Masonry.

A Grand Master’s Royal Ark Council was formed of all members of the Mark General Board. Having achieved respectability under the established government of the Mark Grand Lodge, the Ark Mariner Degree began to make steady progress.  By the year 1900, there were some fifty Lodges in England and Wales with others in Australia and India.  Today, there are some 780 Lodges in England and Wales while in the Province of Cumberland and Westmorland, there are fifteen.

The Regalia comprises an Apron which is boarded by a rainbow ribbon with similar rosettes.  The breast jewel is of a dove bearing an olive branch suspended from a rainbow attached to a rainbow coloured ribbon.

(a)  Commanders and Past Commanders (who are the equivalent of Masters and Past Masters in the Craft) exchange the rosettes on the Aprons for silver triangles and wear a breast jewel of a triangle surmounted by the letter N.

(b)  Provincial Officers wear a collarette from which is suspended a silver Ark.

(c)  Grand Officers exchange the silver detail for gold. There are no individual ranks within either Province or Grand Lodge.

Brethren holding those ranks in paras (b) and (c) suffix their name with Royal Ark Mariner Provincial Grand Rank or Royal Ark Mariner Grand Rank.

The Degree of Royal Ark Mariner is attached to and administered by the Most Worshipful Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons with the assistance of a Board called the Grand Master’s Royal Ark Council.

Each Royal Ark Mariner Lodge must be attached to a Mark lodge and bear the same number.  It also takes the same name unless by dispensation from the Grand Master is given for an alternative.

As would seem logical, the Degree of Royal Ark Mariner is only open to Mark Master Masons.

REGALIA:  Apron - Jewel