Inn sign
![Swansign.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b4/Swansign.jpg/220px-Swansign.jpg)
Inn signs have a history that extends beyond the Middle Ages, when many houses were identified by a sign, often a heraldic charge, which signified that the premises were under the special care of a nobleman, or a vivid image that impressed itself on the memory. The ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii reveal that most of their street-front shops displayed an identifying sign outside.[1]
In Ireland and the United Kingdom especially, the tradition, by which publicans were obliged to identify their premises by a sign, dating from the reign of Richard II,[2] is carried on today. A selection of inn signs carved on slabs and rescued after the Great Fire of London is preserved in the Guildhall.
External links[]
http://www.breweryartists.co.uk/ History of a now defunct studio and examples of painted signs
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Inn signs. |
- History stubs
- Signage
- Pubs