Banner of the Worshipful Company of Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers

The Worshipful Company of Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers is one of the livery companies of the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

. The Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers were incorporated by

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

in 1693; the City granted it the status of a livery company in 1780. The craft originally associated with the company, namely the making of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

and silver thread for uniforms or ceremonial clothing, has declined but is still practised. Thus nowadays the company functions mainly as a charitable body. The Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers' Company ranks seventy-fourth in the

order of precedence An order of precedence is a sequential hierarchy of nominal importance and can be applied to individuals, groups, or organizations. Most often it is used in the context of people by many organizations and governments, for very formal and state o ...

of City livery companies. Its

motto A motto (derived from the Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of an individual, family, social group, or organisation. M ...

is ''Amicitiam Trahit Amor'',

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

for ''Love leads to friendship'' — or, more literally, "love ''draws'' friendship," a punning reference to the

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometim ...

's ancient craft. The Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers' Company also has an associated

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

, consecrated on 29 October 1945, membership of which is open only to Liverymen of the company, its motto being "The Lodge of Love and Friendship", a play on words of the ancient livery company's motto.

External links

The Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers' Company
{{authority control Gold and Silver Wyre Drawers 1693 establishments in England Threading (manufacturing) Cable manufacture in London English goldsmiths Gold industry English silversmiths