Fire Mark Plaques – Sun Insurance Company

Fire Mark Plaques are a unique type of historical fire insurance marker. These markers originated in England in the 17th century. In response to the huge financial blow after The Great Fire of London 1666.

The enormous losses suffered after the Great Fire of London led to the establishment of fire insurance. Where people paid a fee to an insurance company to insure their property against damage. The first insurance company, called the Fire Office was formed in 1680 by the economist and financial speculator Nicolas Barbon.

A typical Fire Mark plaque consisted of a sun or a sunburst symbol made from metal (often brass or lead) with intricate details and brightly painted emblems of each fire insurance company. They were placed high up on the buildings of insured properties. This unique design allowed it to be identified quickly by agents of fire insurance companies. Making it simpler for them to verify the presence of fire insurance coverage and pay claims in case of a fire.

What was their purpose?

The primary function of fire mark plaques was to serve as a symbol of fire insurance coverage for a building. This allowed insurance companies to verify coverage quickly, especially in the days before standardised identification numbers or electronic verification systems were available.

Popular stories suggest that insurance firemen would leave a building to burn if it wasn’t insured or insured with a rival company. There is little real evidence to suggest that this was the case. In fact, evidence shows that insurance companies had strict rules that on pain of dismissal, their firefighting teams should attend every fire they encountered. Irrelevant of if the property was insured or not and regardless of which company it might have been insured with.

Any fire left unchecked could spread to whole streets or neighbourhoods and involve the insurance companies in large scale losses. Mutual co-operation was therefore extremely important.

Fire mark plaques were also made to be decorative. They varied in design, including symbols such as the sun, the eagle, and more common motifs like hearts or other simple shapes. These variations reflect the unique characteristics of local culture, architectural styles, and regional design sensibilities.

Ingenious British History.

Today, fire mark plaques, including sun plaques, have become highly collectible items. Many historical societies and museums have extensive collections, and individual collectors often seek to acquire these unique pieces of history.

The Fire Mark Sun Plaque represents a unique intersection of art, history, and functionality. It’s a testament to the ingenuity of early insurance companies in creating visual identifiers to facilitate quick verification of fire insurance coverage in emergency situations.