Purpose & Ethics

Mission Statement

To create and foster a spirit of understanding among all people for humanitarian needs by providing voluntary services through community involvement and international cooperation.

Lions International Purposes

• To Create and foster a spirit of understanding among the peoples of the world.
• To Promote the principles of good government and good citizenship.
• To Take an active interest in the civic, cultural, social and moral welfare of the community.
• To Unite the clubs in the bonds of friendship, good fellowship and mutual understanding.
• To Provide a forum for the open discussion of all matters of public interest; provided, however, that partisan politics and sectarian religion shall not be debated by club members.
• To Encourage service-minded people to serve their community without personal financial reward, and to encourage efficiency and promote high ethical standards in commerce, industry, professions, public works and private endeavors.

Lions Code of Ethics

• To Show my faith in the worthiness of my vocation by industrious application to the end that I may merit a reputation for quality of service.
• To Seek success and to demand all fair remuneration or profit as my just due, but to accept no profit or success at the price of my own self-respect lost because of unfair advantage taken or because of questionable acts on my part.
• To Remember that in building up my business it is not necessary to tear down another’s; to be loyal to my clients or customers and true to myself.
• Whenever a doubt arises as to the right or ethics of my position or action towards others, to resolve such doubt against myself.
• To Hold friendship as an end and not a means. To hold that true friendship exists not on account of the service performed by one another, but that true friendship demands nothing but accepts service in the spirit in which it is given.
• Always to bear in mind my obligations as a citizen to my nation, my state, and my community, as to give them my unswerving loyalty in word, act, and deed. To give them freely of my time, labor and means.
• To Aid others by giving my sympathy to those in distress, my aid to the weak, and my substance to the needy.
• To Be Careful with my criticism and liberal with my praise; to build up and not destroy.

The Slogan

“Liberty, Intelligence, Our Nations’ Safety”

The Colors

To Lions, purple stands for loyalty to country, friends, one’s self and integrity of mind and heart. It is the traditional color of strength, courage, and tireless dedication to a cause. Gold symbolizes sincerity of purpose, liberality in judgement, purity in life, and generosity in mind, heart and purse toward his fellow man.

The Origin

Lionism began in the United States in 1917 whan a group of independent clubs responded to an idea presented to them by a young Chicago insurance agent, Melvin Jones. The idea was one of service as a group to their fellow men without regard to politics, religion, race, or any of the personal interests of the members. This was heralded as a departure from the trend current at the time for forming clubs basically with a commercial motive. A conference was called of some 25 independent clubs on June 7, 1917 and from this meeting the organization was born.

The Name

The official name of Lions is: The International Association of Lions Clubs or simply Lions Clubs International.

The Emblem

It consists of a gold letter L on a circular purple field. Bordering this is a circular gold area with two conventionalized lion profiles at either side facing away from the center. The word Lions appears at the top and International at the bottom. Symbolically, the lions face both past and future – proud of the past and confident of the future.

It is the written obligation of every Lion to wear and display his emblem with pride.
L: Law, Liberty, Labor, Loyalty, Love, Life