Soon after Hitler's rise to power, as early as 1934, it became apparent that Free- masonry in Germany
was in great danger. In the same year, the German Grand Lodge of the Sun in Bayreuth (one of the prewar German Grand Lodges) realized the imminent problems facing them.  They elected to wear a little blue flower, the Forget- Me- Not, in lieu of the traditional Square and Compasses, as a mark of identity for Masons, When the German military or the Gestapo inquired, "Was ist das?"  The simple reply was "Eine Blume" (a flower).

     It was felt that the new symbol would not attract attention from the Nazis, who were in the process of confiscating and appropriating Masonic Lodges and property. Masonry had gone underground and it was necessary that the brethren should have some readily recognizable means of identification. Throughout the entire Nazi era, a little blue flower in a lapel marked a brother. In the concentration camps and in the cities, a little blue forget-me-not distinguished the lapels of those who refused to allow the Light of Masonry be extinguished.

     When in 1947, the Grand Lodge of the Sun was reopened in Bayreuth, a little blue pin, the shape of a
forget me not was proposed and adopted as the official emblem of the first Annual Convention of those
who had survived the bitter years of semi- darkness, bringing the Light of Masonry once again into the
Temples. A year later, at the first Annual Convention of the United Grand Lodges of Germany, AF&AM.,
the pin was adopted as an official Masonic emblem honoring those valiant brethren who carried on their
work under adverse conditions. At the Grand Master's Conference in the United States, Dr. Theodor
Vogel, the Grand Master of the newly-formed VGLvD, AF&AM, presented one of the pins to each of the
representatives of the Grand Jurisdictions with which the VGLvD, AF&AM enjoyed Fraternal relations.

    Thus did a simple little flower blossom forth into a meaningful emblem of the Fraternity, becoming
perhaps the most widely worn pin among Freemasons in Germany.  Now, in their Lodges, the
Forget-Me-Not is presented to new Master Masons, at which time its history is explained.  Visitors from other Grand Jurisdictions are sometimes presented a pin as a reminder of their visit