Fire marks

Category: Insurance history · Reviewed by the Apex broking team · Last reviewed 2026-08-22 · ~3 min read

Origin

Organised fire insurance in Britain emerged after the Great Fire of London in 1666, and with it the problem of identification: an office that employed its own firemen needed a way for them to recognise the buildings it had insured, in streets that were not systematically numbered and often in poor light. The answer was a plaque fixed to the building at first-floor level, above the reach of casual removal and visible from the street.

The Sun Fire Office, founded in 1710, is credited as the first to use the mark, and other offices followed with their own devices — suns, phoenixes, globes, hands in hand. Early marks were cast in lead and carried the policy number as well as the emblem, so that a fireman could in principle match the building to a policy. Iron and brass were used later, and from the second half of the nineteenth century embossed sheet metal and enamelled signs became common, particularly on the Continent.

What they were actually for

The mark identified the property to the office’s brigade. It was not a receipt, it was not proof of cover in any legal sense, and it did not travel with the building: because early marks carried the policy number, a change of insurer or a lapsed policy left a mark that no longer corresponded to anything. Offices reused and recovered them where they could.

As municipal and joint arrangements developed and the number of offices grew, the identification function decayed. By around 1825 the marks were serving mainly as advertising — a visible statement that the office was established and that the building was insured — and some offices stopped issuing them altogether.

The myth

The story most often told about fire marks is that insurance brigades would arrive at a fire, look for their own office’s mark, and ride away leaving an uninsured or rival-insured building to burn. It is not accurate. Brigades had strong reasons to fight any fire they attended: a fire in an uninsured building threatened the insured buildings on either side of it, offices paid each other for attendance, and being seen to let a street burn was commercially disastrous. The evidence indicates that brigades attended and fought fires regardless of whose mark was on the wall.

The myth persists because it is a tidy illustration of a moral about private provision, and because the marks themselves are such vivid objects. It is worth correcting, not least because it is frequently repeated in insurance training material.

The end of the insurance brigades

The insurance offices in London had already consolidated their separate brigades into a single London Fire Engine Establishment in the 1830s. After a series of very large losses, the offices told government they were no longer willing to carry responsibility for the capital’s fire protection, and the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865 transferred that responsibility to the Metropolitan Board of Works. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade came into being in 1866, and the direct link between insurance and firefighting in London was broken.

The Board of Works later became the London County Council, and the brigade was renamed the London Fire Brigade in 1904. Once firefighting was a public service, the mark had no operational function at all, and issue ceased.

Fire marks today

Many original marks survive in situ on older buildings, and they are collected and catalogued as objects in their own right. Two practical points arise for owners of historic property. A mark is generally regarded as part of the historic fabric, and on a listed building its removal or replacement may require consent; it should not be taken down casually during works. And a surviving mark says nothing whatever about the building’s current insurance — a point that occasionally needs making to buyers of period property.

For the insurance market itself the marks are a reminder of something less quaint than it looks: for a century and a half, loss prevention was a service the insurer provided directly rather than a condition it imposed on the insured. The modern equivalents — risk surveys, protection warranties, sprinkler requirements and premium credits for fire detection — are the same instinct expressed contractually.

Frequently asked questions

What is a fire mark?

A metal plaque, usually lead, iron or brass, fixed to the front of a building by a fire insurance office to show that the property was insured with it. They were used in Britain from the early eighteenth century and carried the office's emblem and, on early examples, the policy number.

Did fire brigades really let uninsured buildings burn?

No. That is a persistent myth. Insurance brigades had every commercial and practical reason to fight any fire they attended — neighbouring insured property was at risk, offices paid each other for attendance, and the reputational damage of standing by would have been severe.

Which company issued the first fire mark?

The Sun Fire Office, founded in 1710, is credited as the first British office to use fire marks. Other offices followed with their own emblems, and the practice spread across Britain and later to Europe and North America.

Can a fire mark be removed from a building?

It is usually treated as part of the historic fabric, and on a listed building removal or alteration may require listed building consent. It should not be removed during refurbishment without checking. A surviving mark tells you nothing about the building's present insurance.

References

• Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865, legislation.gov.uk

Related entries

• Sun fire office 1710
• Great fire of london 1666
• Marine insurance act 1906 historical context
• Lloyds of london
• Commercial insurance uk

This entry is part of the Apex Insurance Wiki. It is general insurance information, not legal advice, and states the position as at August 2026. Last reviewed 2026-08-22. Next review: 2027-02-22. Always read the policy wording and take advice on your own facts.

Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 724952). This page is general information, not advice on a specific policy.