The Lantern emblem predates Netherwatch by more than a century.
It first appeared in the journals of a Spanish inquisitor in the early 1400s, drawn beside accounts of a “cold fire” used to trap an unseen entity inside the vaults of Montserrat. Similar markings were found carved into stone near a Black Forest chapel where an entire town vanished in 1468. The symbol changed over time, but the idea was constant – the light will not be overtaken by shadow.
When Netherwatch was sanctified in 1532, the founders adopted the Lantern as a quiet marker to remember that purpose. And it is imperative that we do not forget.
I believe they chose it because it reflected what they feared most. That they would become carriers of something too dangerous to share, too important to let die. That is still what we are.
The Lantern is not for the world to see. It is for those willing to carry it without needing to be seen.
We are not the flame. We are its vessel.
—Director A. Frost