History of Mark and Royal Ark Mariner Lodges in Belgium

In 1982, a number of Belgian Brethren who had received the Mark degree in the Netherlands founded Belgium’s first Mark Lodge in Brussels. Six more Lodges followed, and in 1996 the Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of England and Wales and its Districts and Lodges Overseas established a District Grand Lodge to administer the Mark and Royal Ark Mariner degrees in Belgium.

There are now twelve Mark Lodges in Belgium, four working in French (meeting in Arlon, Brussels, Charleroi, and Namur), four in Dutch (who meet in Antwerp, Gent, Leuven and Oostkamp-Brugge), and three in English (who meet in Brussels, Oostkamp-Brugge and Koksijde). Uniquely, there is one Mark Lodge who works in alternative languages, a combination of the three languages of the District.

There are ten Royal Ark Mariner Lodges in Belgium who are also administered through the District Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of Belgium.  These Lodges work in association with a Mark Lodge and meet in the same cities. In Belgium there are Royal Ark Mariner Lodges that work in French, Dutch, and English.