why are the principal officers in a royal ark mariner lodge named after noah and his sons

The Royal Ark Mariner degree is based upon the biblical account of Noah, the Ark, and the Great Flood 1. The lodge itself is structured to represent the Ark of Safety, with its narrative taking place prior to, during, and after the deluge. Because the ritual drama centres on Noah's family surviving the flood to preserve sacred truth, the principal officers personify the patriarchs of that narrative: the Worshipful Commander represents Noah, while the Senior Warden represents Japheth and the Junior Warden represents Shem, as Mark Masons' Hall states.

Masonic tradition historically styled brethren as Noachidae or "sons of Noah" to denote them as preservers of a sacred deposit of divine truth handed down through Noah's lineage after the deluge 1. Placing Noah and his sons as the three principal officers directly reflects this allegorical framework, representing the leadership and family who were preserved within the vessel 1.

The supplied passages do not explicitly record the origin of assigning Shem and Japheth to the Senior and Junior Wardens in a Royal Ark Mariner lodge. What they do establish is that the degree was invented in England toward the end of the eighteenth century, drawing directly upon the biblical account of Noah, the Deluge, and the Ark 1. By 1798, members of the degree referred to themselves as Noachidae or "Sons of Noah," and the presiding officer carried the title of "Grand Noah" in a body then called a Royal Ark Vessel 1.

Regarding Noah's sons, in the American system of the Royal Arch, the names Shem, Ham, and Japheth serve as significant words because the brothers assisted Noah in building the Ark of Safety 1. However, the sources do not trace how or when these personages were formally attached to the warden chairs in Royal Ark Mariner lodges.