It has been argued that, in order to define itself and give its members a sense of their place, any political movement employs a cultural framework or a ‘master fiction’, the centre of which has sacred status. This is certainly true of the iconography of Freemasonry, which we noted in the preceding chapter in the emblems designed by Arthur John Waudby. The capitalist system, with its new technology – resisted so violently during the years of the Rebecca Riots and the smashing of modern machinery – had disrupted the old patterns of working, and workers were left with little choice other than to reluctantly adapt to the new industrial world in which they found themselves. Thus it may be argued that a cultural framework or ‘master fiction’ had to be found in which to bond with fellow workers and share the experience of labouring under a repressive and exploitative capitalistic system. This chapter will look at how trade union emblems depict this ‘master fiction’ or ‘sacred centre’, its importance, and how its subject changes over time.

R. W. Postgate, in The Builders' History, writes: