Fire insurance marks were
lead or copper plaques embossed with the sign of the
insurance company, and placed on the front of the insured
building as a guide to the insurance company's fire brigade.
They are common in the older areas of Britain's and America's cities and larger towns. They were used on the
eighteenth and nineteenth century in the days before
municipal fire services were formed.
Online references
Reference
- G. V. Blackstone, A history of the British Fire Service, 1957. pp 68 and plate 7