The “Golden
Fleece” and The
Star and Garter
by Harold Meij
Order of the Garter
In the E.A. ritual, the W.M. gives a lambskin, or white leather apron to the
candidate, saying it is more ancient than the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle, more
honorable than the Star and Garter....What is a Golden Fleece and Star and
Garter?
A fleece is a coat of wool covering a wool-bearing animal
like a sheep. This would explain the link between a fleece and our apron being
white leather. Golden fleece appears in the Greek tradition, where Aries
(Latin for ram) was the winged ram of the Golden Fleece. There was also a
fleece placed by the King of Colchis in a dragon-guarded grove and which was
recovered by the Argonauts. It is also interesting to note that the Order of
the Golden Fleece, introduced by Philip III (a.k.a. Philip the Good), Duke of
Burgundy in 1429, was the highest order of knighthood, especially as wool was an
important part of his domain at the time.
The Star and Garter was more difficult to research. There
is an order, called the Order of the Garter, which is the most illustrious
order of British knighthood. It was instituted by King Edward III in 1348. The
order consists of the sovereign, and 25 companions, of which the Prince of
Wales is always a member. It therefore signifies how important the order is,
and also, more interestingly perhaps, the period from which our ritual
possibly originated
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