The following is for engineers who want information about the Iron Ring Ceremony. It is  available to the public and has been assembled here as an information package¹.
      Since the first ceremony held by Camp #1 on May 1st, 1925 in Toronto², more than 212,000 engineers have been obligated at more than 1665 ceremonies organised by the 24 Camps across Canada; see table 1.
      Welcomed into the engineering profession by fellow obligated engineers and encouraged to display fundamental personal values in their professional practice, these engineers have all worn their iron ring with pride.
      As stated by Rémy G. Dussault, Chief Warden, this is a truly unique Canadian accomplishment. It may also be noted that The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer is strictly and purely Canadian³.

      Most engineers in Canada wear the Iron Ring and have solemnly obligated themselves to an ethical and diligent professional career through the ceremony, “The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer.”  This note reviews the history and purposes of The Corporation of the Seven Wardens, The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer and the Iron Ring itself.
      The history of The Corporation of the Seven Wardens started in 1922, when a group of prominent engineers met in Montreal to discuss a concern for the general guidance and solidarity of the profession, and to develop a proposal that seven of Canada’s most prominent engineers form the nucleus of an organization whose object would be to bind all members of the engineering profession in Canada more closely together, and to imbue them with their responsibility towards society.
      The seven engineers enlisted the services of the late Rudyard Kipling, who developed an appropriate Ritual and the symbolic Iron Ring.  The purpose was outlined by Kipling, as follows:
 

  “The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer has been instituted with the simple end of directing the young engineer towards a consciousness of his profession and its significance, and indicating to the older engineer his responsibilities in receiving, welcoming and supporting the young engineers in their beginnings.”

       The Ritual has been copyrighted in Canada and in the United States, and the Iron Ring has been registered. The Corporation of the Seven Wardens is entrusted with the responsibility of administering and maintaining the Ritual, which it does through a system of separate groups, called Camps, across Canada.  There are more than 20 Camps in existence at present, including Camp No. 3, which is responsible for the campus of Queen’s University and that of the Royal Military College.
       The corporation of Seven Wardens is not a secret society.  Its rules of governance, however, do not permit any publicity about its activities, and they specify that Ceremonies are not to be held in the presence of the general public.
       The original seven senior engineers who met in Montreal in 1922 were, as it happened, all past-Presidents of the Engineering Institute of Canada.  There is, however, no direct connection between the Engineering Institute of Canada and The Corporation of the Seven Wardens.
       The wearing of the Iron Ring, or the taking of the Obligation of the ceremony, does not imply that an individual has gained legal acceptance or qualification as an engineer. This can only be granted by the provincial bodies so appointed; it should also be mentioned that the Corporation has no direct connection with any provincial Association or Order.
       Obligation ceremonies for graduating students are held in cities where the Camps are located, and for convenience, in some cases, on the university campus itself.  Such ceremonies must not be interpreted as being an extension of the engineering curriculum.  The Iron Ring does not replace the diploma granted by the University or the School of Engineering, nor is it a sign of having successfully passed the Institution’s examinations.
       The purpose of The Corporation of Seven Wardens and the Ritual is to provide an opportunity for men and women to obligate themselves to the standards of ethics and diligent practice that is felt to be required by those in our profession.  This opportunity is available to any who wish to take advantage of it, whether they be new graduates or senior engineers.  The ritual of the Calling of an Engineer is, of course, attended by all those who wish to be Obligated along with invited senior engineers, and when opportunity permits, family members and friends who have been previously obligated.  A complete explanation of the Ritual, its obligations and history, is given to every man and woman before the ceremony so they may decide in advance whether or not they wish to take part in the spirit intended.  A few people, for one reason or another, have chosen to refrain from being obligated, and so cannot rightfully wear the Iron Ring.  The Corporation feels that this in no way detracts form their right to practice in the profession, and it further feels that the Obligation should be a matter of personal choice, taken only by those who wish to take part in the serious and sincere manner intended.

       At the Thirty-Sixth Annual Professional Meeting of The Engineering Institute of Canada, in Montreal, on January 25, 1922, Professor H.E.T. Haultain, of the University of Toronto, was the luncheon speaker.  He suggested the development of an oath or a creed to which the young graduate in engineering could subscribe, something in the form of the Hippocratic oath in the medical profession.
      Appealing to Rudyard Kipling that there was “no one who could put it up in better form or would have a deeper insight into the meaning of such a thing to the engineer”, Professor Haultain, in a letter to Kipling on October 18th , outlined the suggestion made and requested his help.  Kipling’s reply came promptly.  On November 9th, he sent to Professor Haultain the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer, together with the notes which now are part of the Ritual.
      In his accompanying letter, Kipling explained: “My own idea would be to make the Ritual binding and unalterable except by the authority of the Seven Past Presidents of the Engineering Institute of Canada, who (co-opting as need arises) would be responsible for the Landmarks of the Calling.”  He also asked for the opinion of “the seven” on what he had submitted, and suggested that, although “the larger part of the working would be, naturally, obligating graduates in Engineering immediately after they had taken their degree, or before they embarked on their career.…many young engineers, and even older ones, out struggling in the world, would find it both tonic and refreshing to be obligated.” In the same letter, Kipling expressed his preference for the word “obligation” over the word “oath.”
       After much consultation among the Seven, Dr. Fairbairn wrote, on March 31, 1925, to Mr. Kipling, outlining the procedure that had been devised for the ceremonies of obligation and suggested a few minor changes in the wording of the Ritual so as to make it applicable to Canadian conditions.  He also explained that the Seven felt that the best way to begin would be to place the Ritual in the control of the Engineering Alumni Associations in respective Canadian Universities, beginning that year with the University of Toronto.  The proposal to turn control over to the Engineering Alumni Associations was subsequently abandoned as seen from the fact that, in March 1926, the text of the Book of Authority, providing for the delegation of authority by the Seven for the establishment of Camps, was submitted to and approved by Kipling, and that no reference is made therein to the Engineering Alumni Associations.
  On April 22, 1925, Mr. Kipling cabled his approval of the amended Ritual and the statement of procedure outlined in Dr. Fairbairn’s letter of March 31st, and sent a letter of confirmation the same day.

       The inaugural ceremony was held in the evening of April 25, 1925, in one of the private dining rooms of the University Club of Montreal, when the obligation was taken concurrently by the following six engineers, Dr. Ross acting as Senior Supervising Engineer:
 

R.A. Ross, Consulting Engineer
J.M.R. Fairbairn, Chief Engineer, Canadian Pacific Railway
Harold Rolph, President, John S. Metcalf and Co., Consulting Engineers
N.M. Lash, Chief Engineer, Bell Telephone Co.
J.M. Robertson, Consulting Engineer
John Chalmers, Engineer for John Quinlan & Co., Contractors

      On May 1st, 1925, three of the newly obligated engineers, Dr. Ross, Dr. Fairbairn and Mr. Rolph met at the University of Toronto with a number of the officers of the Engineering Alumni Association and, at 11 a.m., obligated 14 of them in the Senate Chamber of the University, thus constituting Camp 1.
      A list of Camps that were subsequently formed can be seen in table 1.

     Ring Material. A myth about the rings given to Obligated Engineers is they are a reminder of the Quebec Bridge that collapsed. While remnants of this popular legend still exist, the rings were never made of materials from the collapsed Quebec Bridge, nor is the ring symbolic of the failure of that bridge or any other engineering project⁶. Rings have always been produced from commercial sources⁷, originally puddled wrought iron and more recently wrought iron and stainless steel.  Kipling indicated that the Ring as an allegory in itself be rough, not smoothed, and hammered and as a ring have no beginning or end.  There is no evidence that there is any particular history in the source of Cold Iron for the Ring, nor any intention that there should have been, although remnants of the Quebec Bridge “legend” still exist in Canada.
      Secrecy. There is a perceived secrecy of the Ritual and the Ceremony. However, Kipling conceived the idea of a Camp, as a gathering place to reflect a spirit of comradeship, a sense of belonging and an assurance of mutual support⁸.
      Candidate briefing. It is important the Candidates are briefed⁹. The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer invites those engineers appropriately qualified to join other Canadian engineers in a commitment to “… Fundamental personal values in their professional practice…”. Obligants enter a uniquely Canadian fellowship that expects a Code of Practice respectful of the needs of the public and the position of other engineers.
      Ancient Landmarks. The Ancient Landmarks are the Anvil, the Hammer, the Chain and the Ring.  The latter is a last token of Cold Iron, wedding the engineer to his Calling, providing a lifetime reminder of the obligation that he has taken before his “betters and equals”.

Endnotes:

1  Assembled by J.Jeswiet, Warden
2  Remy G. Dussault, Chief Warden.....
3  Gilles Peron, Warden.....
4  written in 1975 by G.N. Martin, Chief Warden
5  From notes handed to candidates before the ceremony
6  G. Jim Thomson Professional Engineer Secretary Camp One Toronto
7  J.W. MacLaren, Honorary Warden
8  F.T. Gerson Warden
9  P.T. Seabrook, Warden

back to top