Fire mark

Fire marks were placed on the outside of buildings to indicate that the property was insured by a specific company. This identification was particularly important in London before the introduction of street numbering in the 1760s. Householders with fire insurance could expect the company to send its 'fire brigade' to put out the fire. Insurance companies often had reciprocal arrangements with each other so that if a fire brigade put out a fire at a house insured by a different company then the brigade's company would be reimbursed. In 1826 an agreement was reached between the Sun Fire office, the Royal Exchange Assurance and the Phoenix Fire Office to combine their brigades under the leadership of one superintendent. This provided the basis for the creation of the London Fire Engine Establishment in 1833.

This fire mark was issued by Commercial Union Assurance which was founded in the wake of the Tooley Street fire at Bermondsey in 1861. The destruction of river-side warehouses and their valuable contents caused the established insurance companies to hike their premiums. The newly formed Commercial Union undercut its competitors by offering cheaper insurance for wharves and warehouses on the Thames. The mark bears the company's emblem, the salamander, a creature that could both live in and extinguish fires. This particular mark may have been produced for the overseas market or for promotional purposes.