What is mark masonry and how it is different from the craft lodge?

Originating in the custom of operative stonemasons chiseling identifying symbols into fashioned stone, Mark Masonry records of speculative Masons selecting personal marks date back to 1600 in Scotland 1. In the Mark Degree, candidates adopt a unique device that is permanently recorded in a Book of Marks, which historically carried symbolic force as a pledge of friendship and mutual assistance among brethren 1.

Mark Masonry differs from Craft Masonry in its governance, degree structure, chronological position, and regalia. In English Craft Masonry, the 1813 Articles of Union excluded the Mark Degree from the recognized series of Craft degrees 1. Consequently, Mark Masonry is governed separately from Craft lodges by its own independent ruling authority, the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons. In Scotland, historical arrangements permitted the Mark degrees to be worked under the authority of either the Craft Grand Lodge or the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter 1.

Progression and eligibility also distinguish the Order. While chronologically following the Second (Fellowcraft) Degree in Craft Masonry, candidates must be Master Masons to be advanced through a two-part ceremony in which they are acknowledged as a Mark Man and then a Mark Master Mason, as the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons states.

The regalia of the Mark Degree is distinct from Craft aprons. An ordinary member wears a white kid apron with a triangular flap bordered by light blue and crimson ribbon with rosettes—replaced by silver levels for Masters and Past Masters—and a keystone jewel bearing a mallet and chisel, as the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons describes.