Elks Emblems, Symbols, and What They Represent

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks carries a visual language built over more than 150 years — a set of symbols that appear on lodge buildings, regalia, letterhead, and ceremonial objects across more than 1,700 lodges in the United States. Each emblem connects to a specific principle, a moment in the order's founding history, or a value embedded in its ritual life. Understanding what these symbols are and what they actually signify cuts through a lot of guesswork for prospective members, researchers, and anyone who has ever noticed that distinctive clock face and wondered what it means.

Definition and scope

The BPOE's primary emblem is the elk's head — specifically, the head of the North American elk (Cervus canadensis), rendered in profile. The choice was not arbitrary. When the organization formalized its identity in New York City in 1868, founding members selected the elk as a symbol of nobility, swiftness, and strength. The animal was understood to embody a kind of dignified power: capable of force, but not aggressive by nature.

Layered on top of that central image is a clock face, almost always positioned prominently on the lodge seal or the emblem worn on jewelry and pins. The clock displays 11:00 — the exact time referenced in the 11 o'clock toast, a formal ceremony conducted at Elks meetings in which members pause to remember absent brothers. The clock, then, is not decorative. It is functional symbolism: a permanent reminder that a specific ritual obligation exists.

The full BPOE emblem combines the elk's head, the clock, and a five-pointed star within an oval or shield shape. The color scheme used in official contexts draws on purple and gold — purple carrying longstanding associations with loyalty and dignity across fraternal and civic traditions, gold representing excellence. These colors appear in lodge décor, officer regalia, and published materials including the Elks Magazine and Publications.

How it works

The symbols operate on two levels simultaneously: as identifiers and as pedagogical tools. Identification is straightforward — the emblem marks a building as an Elks lodge, a pin as belonging to a member, a certificate as issued by the national organization. Pedagogy is subtler.

New members encounter the emblems during initiation and lodge instruction. Each element is explained in ceremonial context, connecting the visual to the verbal. The elk's head is not just a logo; it is introduced alongside the order's founding narrative, which appears in greater depth on the history of the Elks page. The clock face is explained in relation to the 11 o'clock toast ritual. This layered introduction means that by the time a member has completed initiation, the emblem functions as a compressed summary of the lodge's values.

The five-pointed star within the emblem corresponds to the order's five founding principles: charity, justice, brotherly love, fidelity, and the remembrance of departed members. This is a meaningful structural distinction from the four cardinal virtues most often cited in Elks public materials — the Elks motto and cardinal principles page addresses that distinction directly. The star in the emblem encompasses the full original five, including the memorial dimension that the 11 o'clock toast enacts.

Common scenarios

Members encounter BPOE symbols in three primary contexts:

  1. Lodge buildings and physical spaces — The elk's head and clock emblem typically appear above entrances, on interior walls near the altar, and on lodge furnishings. Lodges with longer histories often have carved or cast versions in wood, bronze, or stone dating back decades.
  2. Member regalia and jewelry — Lapel pins, tie tacks, rings, and belt buckles commonly feature the emblem. Officer-grade regalia incorporates the symbols with additional color coding that signals rank within the lodge officer structure.
  3. Certificates, awards, and publications — Scholarship certificates issued through the Elks National Foundation carry the emblem, as do recognition documents from programs like the Elks Most Valuable Student Award. The consistent use of the seal establishes organizational authenticity across a geographically dispersed membership.

Outside these formal contexts, the emblem appears on lodge websites, the BPOE's national homepage, and external-facing signage — functioning more as a community identifier than a ceremonial object in those settings.

Decision boundaries

Not every image of an elk or a clock is an official BPOE symbol, and the distinction matters. The order maintains trademark protections over its specific emblem configuration. Unauthorized commercial use — printing the official seal on merchandise not sanctioned by the national organization — falls outside what local lodges or individual members are authorized to do independently.

The contrast between the national emblem and locally adopted lodge insignia is also worth understanding clearly:

The Grand Lodge Convention is the governing body that ratifies any changes to official emblems or symbolism — a process that has kept the core visual identity essentially stable since the late 19th century. That stability is itself part of the point: the emblem's familiarity across 1,700+ lodges is what makes it function as a unifying symbol rather than a decorative choice.

References

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