The Masons Livery Company, one of the oldest of the Corporation of London's ancient trade companies that today promotes the use of stone and supports students learning the craft of stonemasonry, wants a Mason's Mark of its own. It is inviting designs for its Mark to be submitted to it and will give a prize of £250 to the one it chooses.  

The idea of having its own mark has evolved from a Register of Masons Marks it started compiling last year. If you use a mason's mark of your own that you would like to register, you can do so on the Company's website at the address at the bottom.

Many stone firms and organisations have a mark to go alongside that of individual masons so it can be seen and will identify the work as coming from that company.

The Masons’ Company sponsors a number of stone items – such as benches in the City and gifts for people it wants to honour. It is the intention now that the Company Mark should be added to these items in future, and perhaps even to some of the existing pieces.

The competition brief is to design a mark using some element of the Company coat of arms (which you can see on the Livery Company's website and is reproduced here on the right). The Mark must be both relatively easy to carve yet distinctive enough to be instantly recognisable.

There is a prize of £250 for the winner, plus the merit of having the Mark added to future Company commissions. (The Mark will become the property of the Company of Masons.) There will also be publicity in the stone industry media for the winner. Second and third prizes of £100 and £50 will be awarded.

The competition closes on Friday 5 December with the winners publicly announced after the Company holds its Epiphany Court on 6 January. The winning entries will then appear on the Livery Company's website and also here on the Natural Stone Specialist magazine website.

It is also planned to display the winning designs on the Masons Company section of the Stone Federation stand at the Natural Stone Show at Excel London 28-30 April 2015, when the Company will be inviting visitors and exhibitors to fill in forms with their marks, so that they, too, can be included on the register. The prizewinners will be invited to attend the exhibition for a public presentation of their prizes and certificates.

Entries should be submitted on the entry form that can be downloaded from the Masons Company website (click here). If you can scan the form once you have filled it in you can email it to The Clerk of the Masons Company at the email address at the bottom. Otherwise post it to:

The Clerk, The Worshipful Company of Masons, 8 Little Trinity Lane, London, EC4V 2AN.

The Masons Company is also compiling a register of masons marks. You can submit your details and a picture of your mark on the form that can be downloaded here. And if you want to know why it is worth recording masons marks, you might like to read an article posted on the Masons Company website here.