Commemorative plaques
Commemorative plaques can be used for all sorts of reasons: births, marriages, deaths, visits by royalty or other VIPs, significant donations of money or artefacts, business openings, or to mark where buildings once stood, famous people lived or important and interesting things were made.
Materials used for commemorative plaques
What the plaque is made of depends on where it is to be fixed as much as on personal choice. If the plaque is to be sited out of doors, you will want it to be able to withstand everything the weather can bring. In that case, bronze, stainless steel and perspex are the obvious choices. Bronze and steel will last for centuries if required; perspex is rather less hard-wearing but will still look good for many years.
The siting of commemorative plaques
If the plaque is to be sited indoors then bronze can be added to the above list, as can coated aluminium. Aluminium comes in four finishes – bronze, silver, gold and white. It does not require polishing and is a cheaper alternative to the traditional metals. The method of printing, sublimation, is also faster than the etching we use for metals. This makes it ideal if you’re in a rush, but the material will not last hundreds of years as bronze, steel and brass can.
Brass is perfect if you want an indoor, classically elegant commemorative plaque to be unveiled by your visiting VIP. It needs regular polishing and over the years it will develop a depth of sheen that no other metal can rival.
Bronze is more rugged looking and much more hard wearing. It can withstand frost, wind, rain, hail, sun and everything else the British weather can throw at it. Stainless steel can survive those elements too and has the added benefit of being able to stand up to salt. So if your commemorative plaque is to be sited near the sea, marine grade stainless steel is the ideal metal.
Do commemorative plaques need to be polished?
Neither bronze nor steel needs to be polished so they are perfect for sites that you wouldn’t want to carry the duster and Brasso out to. For this reason, they’re often used for commemorative plaques on benches and in gardens where after-care will, of necessity, be minimal.
Plaques can be supplied with or without a wooden backing. They also come with visible or invisible fixings depending on your taste, whether they’re mounted and what they’re going to be attached to. For rough surfaces we can also provide spacers so that your plaque will sit flat.
Bronze, stainless steel, brass, coated aluminium and perspex can all be cut to any shape you want. So if you want your plaque to represent the person or object it commemorates that is no problem. Plaques can also be cut to any size you require, within reason. There’s no limit to the number of lines or words of text: we can give you anything from a single name to an entire Shakespeare sonnet, if your plaque is big enough!
Add an image
We can add images to plaques as well as words. For example, a portrait of the person or animal you’re commemorating, a map, a business logo or an image that just takes your fancy. It is important when planning your plaque to consider how easy the words and image will be to read, and not to cram too much into a small area. If in doubt, please ask; we have years of experience of producing all types of commemorative plaques and will be happy to advise you.
Whatever you want to commemorate, we can create a plaque for it. So whether you’re expecting royalty or want to mark the final resting place of the family hamster, Sign Industries can help.