The Broad Arrow: The Origin and Use of the Ordnance Mark of Serviceability
by Oliver F. G. Hogg
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This article was extracted from the Army Ordnance journal Volume XIV, No.81 for November to December of 1933 - pages 161-163. The journal was published by the National Defense Industrial Association.
As a Lieutenant in 1914, having already served in Gibraltar, Oliver Frederick Gillilan Hogg C.B.E. (1887-1979) commanded an early First World War anti-aircraft unit armed with a specially mounted 2-pounder "Pom-Pom" artillery piece. He was gazetted as Captain in August of that year. Post-war he was posted to the Waltham Abbey Gunpowder Works, Woolwich Arsenal and then to the Royal Small Arms Factory, latterly becoming Deputy Superintendent. He retired in 1946 as a Brigadier.
He wrote several books as well as articles, and two comprehensive memoirs for his family. His major work was the two volume set “The Royal Arsenal: its background, origin and subsequent history” published by the Oxford University Press in 1963.
We have extracted sections of his 1973 family memoir "A Vanished World" that cover his military activities, excluding much of his more personal recollections. Another of his writings relates The Development of the Royal Arsenal.
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THE BROAD ARROW
"THE marking of persons or objects to signify their exclusiveness, to indicate that they were the property of others, is an age-old custom in the history of the world. The practice was probably coeval with the birth of symbolism itself, that art which, from time immemorial, has universally persisted through savagery and culture down to our own era. Nations have passed away, empires have crumbled and religions have decayed, but their carefully chosen symbols, designed to denote some quality or belief, still exist. In many cases the emblem alone has remained, the reason for its shape and the nature of its origin having become lost with the passing of the years. At its inception, however, every ideograph expressed the idea it sought to convey, and many, being cosmic in character, have followed religious or astronomical lines, portraying for the initiated some aspect of the Logos.
The Broad Arrow- the crown mark of munitions of war is no exception to this rule. It has evolved through storm and shine to its present status suffering, in common with other signs, some degradation in meaning. This fate even tually overtakes every religious symbol for the sentence. "Every religious mystery has its degraded shadow because the gods of today become the devils of tomorrow" reveals nothing less than the truth.
Many references to the sealing .of persons with a special mark are found in the Bible. In Genesis IV. 15 we are told that "the Lord set a mark upon Cain lest any finding him should kill him." Again Ezekiel (IX. 4, s, 6) and the Apocalypse (Revelation VII. 3, IX. 4, and XX. 4) speak of "sealing the servants of God in their foreheads." The second Beast, which came up out of the earth having two horns like a lamb and speaking like a dragon, had also a particular sign with which his adherents were to be blazed. From the writer using a word in the original text denoting "engraving" in stead of "branding" it may be inferred that this badge of servitude was to be incised and not branded upon its recipients. Revelation XIII. 16, 17, informs us that "he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads, and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name." The mark was the figure of the special symbol or attribute of the Power allegorized by the beast, the name was his own written out in full in some sacred language and the number was the more recondite way of expressing that name, either by a single numeral, as in the primitive Chaldean fashion, or by other letters taken kabbalistically and yielding the same sum.
A curious portion of the initiatory ceremony in the ancient mysteries was the giving of the "Mark of Mithras." After successfully undergoing each stage of the ordeal the accepted candidate was marked in a certain indelible manner. A similar system of caste-marks still prevails among the Hindus. Deva's mark, as borne upon their foreheads by Parvati's sectaries, is formed by three strokes, the two outside white or yellow and the inner one always red. It is interpreted as meaning the womb of Bhavani whence proceeded all that exists. The marking of certain individuals is very wide spread amongst numerous primitive races at the present day, tribal marks and totems being almost universal in their application from the basking tropics to the frozen north. There is, therefore, some special significance attached to this ceremony which in all cases indicates that the recipient is segregated, placed into a class apart or specially appointed as being acceptable for a certain service. In a similar manner ♀ the astronomical sign for Venus sometimes known as the looking-glass of the goddess, was, as a sign denoting fertility, placed on the hind quarters of valuable brood mares of Corinthian and other beautiful breeds of horses.
THE Broad Arrow, in common with other triadic sigils, such as the Delphic E which if placed horizontally becomes the sign of Vishnu, the Hebrew letter shin, the Indian trisula, the fleur-de-lis, Poseidon's trident and the Prince of Wales' feathers, is usually derived, and it must be admitted with justice, from the fundamental fact of existence, namely the power to create, or, to express it in more philosophic lan guage, the inherent power of a diety to manifest. From this conception, forged out in the mind of primitive man, arose the idea of a trinity. It is obvious that the prophet of old or the untutored savage, musing on the problem of being, would be forcibly struck by the creative potency of nature. He beheld it in the dawn of every new day; he saw it in the rota tion of the crops and, if he were in Egypt, he. could not fail to sense its utility in the periodic flooding of the Nile. He was familiar with it also in his household and amongst his flocks. Storms, disease and death he also knew; this was the reverse side of the medal, the delineation of the wrath of his gods for some supposed offense. Life and existence, however, de pended upon the beneficence conferred upon him when, to his limited intelligence, his deity assumed the highest function, namely, the rôle of creator.
Since the human mind is only capable of framing a symbol in physical terms the union of the sexes appeared to our ancestors as the most appropriate method of representing this God-like attribute, and thus we get from the sage of Greece the exalted idea of the Decad or Divine number of the Pythagorians, from the teachers of India the linga and the yoni, from the Israelites, their Holy of Holies, and from the aboriginal tribes their fire-sticks in common with many other esoteric mysteries from divers lands. These multitudinous similes ranged from the loftiest conceptions to the merest phallic crudities according to the racial development of the peoples who sponsored them, but they all enshrined the same basic idea and were made up, in some form or another, of the pillar or stroke and the circle or the oval. These characters may be taken tO illustrate the numeral IO, to connote the upright and the circle, to picture 10, the moon in Greek mythology or to depict IU, the ever coming One in Egyptian eschatology. When the latter comes the promise has been fulfilled, creation has taken place; and with the offspring, a trinitv has come into being. The IU may now be written ???? and the incipient outline of all triadic marks, including that of an inverted broad arrow, gradually swims into ken. Soon after such an emergence differentiation between these similar devices set in and their discovery in various localities long anterior to the Christian era is evidence of their individual existence. Upon the ebony label discovered by Sir Flinders Petrie at Abydos in the tomb of Menes, the first dynastic Pharoah of Egypt, appears the representation of a broad arrow. This hieroglyph, which evolved from a Sumerian pictograph, oc curs in the sentence recording the death of the king, its Sumerian and Egyptian meanings, signified truth, correctness, uprightness, etc., and thus has borne its present meaning for at least s,ooo years. C. W. King in his "Gnostics and their remains" quotes the case of a fine Abraxas gem of red jasper engraved on its convex face with the figure of Abraxas holding whip and shield, whilst on the reverse side, which is almost flat, is carved the Chnuphis serpent erect, with the Seven Vowels inserted between the rays of his head. Around the edge runs, amongst other lettering, a certain circular row of signs containing examples of the broad arrow as now emblazoned. This same sign has also been discovered as a mason's mark upon old buildings.
THE Broad Arrow developed through the Egyptian Tau, the crux ansata, and its closely allied symbol, the Ankh, which signified life in its deepest sense and therefore represented the Deity. This was the highest conception imaginable, for the winged solar disc was the image of Ra, the Solar Logos. The Tau therefore indicated the acme of perfection.
These symbols represented the ever-living principle, the
Word made manifest, and were used to denote the king on the theory that the sovereign being an incarnation of the Deity, holds his sceptre by divine right and never dies. Le roi est mort, vive le roi. Thus the Tau became a royal mark, a signature of the ruling authority. Owing to the heir apparent, the child in the Trinity being a connecting link in the ruling chain for in the Courts of Memphis and Thebes the next in succession was always considered as much a part of the regnant power as the Pharoah himself this mark became associated with the Prince, the child of promise. It
thus bears a special affinity to the Prince of Wales' feathers, a symbol wide-spread in its adoption.
Another form of the same symbol is the Cyfriu sign of the Barddas wherein we are told that their Abcedilros or alphabet of ten letters was derived from the creative name lau (in Greek Io, in Egyptian lu and in Manx le), the ever-coming one, identified in early religious symbology with the moon, i. e., the wanderer through the heavens; hence the fable of the Wandering Ju or Jew. The Cyfriu sign, shown thus '
' ,
was called the sacred symbol of the unutterable name of God in Druidic lore and corresponded with the Hebrew Jah. It is identical with the "Three Shouts" of the early British, the A.1. at Lloyds and probably with the "Three Lights" of the Chinese, since all owe their origin to the same funda mental idea of the triadic form of the biune One.
The pheon, a charge in heraldry, is an arrow head en
grailed on its inner edges, but when depicted on a coat with
out this peculiarity it is termed a broad arrow although such a distinction is
not very
rigidly
adhered
to.
Instances of this
charge are
common and may be seen in the arms of Foster, Lowndes, Smith, etc. The armorial bearings of the latter
family not only depict 4 pheons in saltire points to the center, but the description of the accompanying crest reads:
"Upon a wreath of the colours on a Roman fasces, a pheon point upwards or, between two laurel-branches fructed pro per"; in other words a typical broad arrow with inner engrailed edges.
The famous house in history which bore·this device upon its shield was that of the Sidneys, the head of which became the Earl of Leicester. The Sidneys of Penhurst gave many sons in service to the State and two of them particularly were
associated with Government provision, namely, Sir Philip
Sidney, Joint Master of the Ordnance in 1585-6 and Henry
1st Earl of Romney, Master-General from 1693 to 1702. Their coat-of-arms or, a pheon's head asure, led Fox-Davies, the
learned author of the "Art of Heraldry,'' to infer that as the Broad Arrow was not a Crown badge in any degree "one of the Sydney family, when Master of the Ordnance, to prevent disputes as to the stores for which he was responsible, marked everything with its private badge of the Broad Arrow; and this private badge has ever since remained in constant use."
Since, however, the pheon was not peculiar to the Sidneys
and since the Broad Arrow is shown not only to have existed as a royal mark in ancient times, but also to have served as a King's cypher in England anterior to the appointment of Sir Philip Sidney, this inference appears to have little or no foundation in fact.
So far as is known the original authority for inscribing the Broad Arrow on Crown property is undiscovered and no writ is extant to proclaim the Royal pleasure in this respect. The earliest mention appears to be in the records of the City of London which state that in 1386 a man was arraigned before
the Lord Mayor and Aldermen assembled for having visited the houses of several brewers, under the pretence of being a King's Officer and a taker of ale for the Royal household. There he marked several barrels with an "Arrowhede" stating that they were for the King's household, when in reality he was a rogue who had received certain sums of money from the brewers in order that they might have the ale in peace. He admitted his guilt and was sentenced to be put in pillory for an hour. There is also mention in 1598 of the Broad
Arrow being used by the Collector of Customs at Newcastle as a mark for contraband goods seized by him.
THE earliest trace of the Broad Arrow in connection with munitions occurs in 1553-4 when Sir Thomas Gresham, founder of the Royal Exchange, was smuggling gunpowder into England. Writing from Antwerp to the Council he mentions "giving your Lordships to understand that I have this day received 36 barrels of gunpowder, part of the comple ment that was lent to the Regent, which I have shipped in
an English crayer, Mr. Thomas Spache of Lye, under this
mark ( '' ) in the margin, the weight thereof you shall receive by the ship, and for the rest as it can be made, so it shall be delivered with as much expedition as may be." And again in the next year, writing from Seville, he refers to cases marked with the "brod arrow."
The first ordinance establishing a crown mark appeared in the reign of Charles I. The mark was instituted to prevent illegal traffic in arms and henceforward it was appointed that all muskets and other weapons issued from his Majesty's stores for land or sea service were to be stamped or engraved with with the mark as enjoined in the ensuing order of the King.
ORDER FOR ESTABLISHING A CROWN MARK*
The King's Most Excellent Majestie, taking into his princely consideration the frequent abuses complained of by the Officers of His Majestie's Armorie and Stores, as well in purloyning as in chopping and chaunging of Armes delivered out of his Stores for Land and Sea Service; And likewise being informed of an abuse no less frequent at musters and trainings in all the counties of these our Realms and Dominions, as well by borrowing Armes of the several Counties one from another, as also by borrowing Armes of the several Division in each County, one from another, by means whereof His Majestie's honour and service are much impaired, and the safety and defence of his Kingdom and people may· be much endangered for want of necessary Armes and Munitions upon any sudden occurrence; His Majestie therefore, for a timely remedy thereof, and for the preventing of the like in the future, hath, by the advice of his Privy Council, thought fit and appointed that all muskets, and other Armes, to be henceforth issued out of His Majestie's Stores for Land Service, shall be marked with the mark of C. R., and for Sea Service with the mark of C. R. and an anchor.
AND His Majestie doth hereby strictly charge, prohibit and command that no person or persons whatsoever shall hereafter presume, attempt, or go about to sell or buy any of His Majestie's Armes or Munitions, whatsoever, upon pain of incurring His Majestie's high displeasure, and the severest punishments that by the Laws and Statutes of this His Majestie's Realm of England, or by His Majestie's Prerogative Royal, can or may be inflicted upon the offenders for Majestie's Realm of England, or by His Majestie's Preroga·
tive Royal, can or may be inflicted upon the offenders for their contempt and disobedience in this behalf.
And to the intent that the said abuse of borrowing Armes, either by several Counties, or by several Divisions in one and the same County, may likewise be prevented, His Majestie's express pleasure is, and he cloth hereby straightly charge and command, that no person or persons whatsoever shall hereafter borrow any Armes or Munitions to be used or employed at any public musters, or any trainings in any County, or Division of County, of this His Majestie's Realm
of England, or Dominion of Wales; but that every person and persons shall from time to time furnish him and them selves with such Armour, Weapons and Munitions as is or shall be by the Lords-Lieutenant and Deputy-Lieutenants of each County respectively appointed and assessed.
And for the better effecting hereof, His Majesty doth hereby charge and command the said Lords-Lieutenant and Deputy-Lieutenants of each County respectively, to cause a separate distinct mark to be set and stamped upon all the Armes of each Company, whereby the same may be distinguished from the Armes of other Companies, and like-
wise to cause several distinct marks to be stampt upon the Armes of the several Divisions and Bands of each Company, whereby the Armes of one Division and Band may be known
from another, that..
thereby all parts of these His Majestie's
Realm and Dominions may be fitly and sufficiently stored
with Armes and Munitions, both for offence and defence, as occasion shall require.
And His Majestie cloth hereby charge and command as
well all Officers of His Majestie's Ordnance and Armoury for that which concerneth them, as all Lords Lieutenant and
Deputy-Lieutenants and all others to whom it shall or may appertain to take special care to see this His Majestie's pleasure
put in due excution accordingly.
Given at His Majestie's Court at Whitehall, this 9th day of March, A. D. 1627.
A ROYAL COMMISSION appointed in 1633 was directed to mark all small arms and armor with the letter A. and a crown, the hall-mark of the Company of Armourers of London.
The first connection between the Broad Arrow and the
Royal Mark seems to be found in a document bearing the
date 1587. "The buttings and boundaries of His Majesty's Tower ground, called the old Artillery ground are as fol· loweth.... Upon all which Boundary Houses, his Majesty's Tower Mark, the Broad Arrow by his late Majesty's special command hath, ever since the building thereupon, been set up.** Presumably therefore the Broad Arrow was officially introduced as a Government mark about the time that Charles 11 reconstituted the Board of Ordnance in 1683.
The last order on the subject necessary to quote is dated 28th July, 1806, and reads as follows: "The Board having
been pleased to direct that in future all descriptions of Ord nance Stores should be marked with the Broad Arrow as soon as they shall have been received as fit for His Majesty's Service; all Storekeepers and Deputy Storekeepers and others are desired to cause this order to be accordingly attended to, in the Department under their direction, reporting to the Board in all cases where articles are received to which the mark cannot be applied." Henceforward all stores which could be so marked were inscribed with B0, a symbol which lasted till 25th May, I855, when the Board of Ordnance was abolished. Since that date stores for Army purposes have borne the mark WD.
Although in course of time, particular!y in regard to general stores where proof or test is not ordinarily required, the Broad Arrow has become to be regarded as a mark denoting Government property, it is clear that such a mean· ing is purely secondary. According to its mythological mean.. ing, the ordinances quoted and the constitutional practice of the Board of Ordnance its primary and correct meaning is a hall-mark of serviceability, a guarantee of fitness for use. The secondary meaning was logically bound to follow as presumably no Government would retain an unserviceable store in its possession. It is, however, necessary to stress this distinction in order to prevent misunderstandings which may otherwise arise. The late Major-General A. Forbes in his "History of the Army Ordnance Services" appears to have fallen into this error when he states that ". . . lastly comes the use of the Broad Arrow as a mark of munitions, the most jealously safeguarded of all Crown property, and now in the
care of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps," for history tells us that the mark was in the custody of the surveyor and not
in that of the storekeeper.
Such then is the history of the Broad Arrow. Unlike most symbols it has retained throughout the course of centuries its pristine meaning, namely, the acme of perfection. Degradation from its prototype the Tau has followed in as much as a mark originally divine has become royal, but when it is remembered that in early times the King betokened on earth the invisible God in the Heavens, it will be seen that the idea underlying it has remained unchanged throughout the course of the many eventful centuries of its existence."
*18 Rhym. Foed., p. 978.
**Journal of the Society of Army Historical Research, Vol. I p. 225.
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