IDTags production

Origin and materials of our Dog Tag military plates

Imported from the factories in the USA where they are manufactured for the US Army, our embossable Dog Tags are cut and stamped from 4/10th-thick sheet metal. Made from stainlesssteel, brass or copper, they are easily recognized by their turned edges, whose main property is to eliminate the sharpness of the plate caused by its thinness.

Other colored anodized aluminum plates are also imported from the USA. As far as 950 mil silver plates are concerned. They are manufactured entirely on site, here in France, in our workshop. The dimensions of an ID Tag are standardized and fit into a 5.00 cm by 2.8 cm rectangle. Although aluminum and silver tags are thicker (0.8 millimeters vs. 0.4) due to different mechanical properties.

Personalizing our Dog Tags

Our workshop offers a wide range of customization options:

- EMBOSSING

This technique involves embossing letters in relief. The letters are embossed on the front of the plate, and therefore Hollow on the reverse. Various automatic machines (depending on the hardness of the material to be embossed) are used to inscribe each plate with 5 lines of 15 characters maximum (14 recommended for WWII dog tags).

Important note: there is no human intervention between the moment an order is validated on the monidtag.com website and the moment the dog tag is embossed. This means that a typing error, a spelling mistake or an error in a date will be rigorously transcribed. So please check your entries carefully!

From a civil point of view, the following information is usually entered:

surname
first name
social security number*
blood group**
religion***

* Although the social security number consists of 15 digits, only the first 13 are the insured's own cipher, the last two numbers (the key) being "calculable" from the first 13. It is therefore not mandatory to enter this key with the social security number.
** Noted X+ or X pos. ; X- or X neg. at your convenience.
*** Indicate ATHEE if you do not belong to any religious denomination.

The military service number replaces the social security number; the rank and/or regiment are also entered.

Of course, you are free to enter whatever you like: a quotation, an excerpt from a poem, a memory - give free rein to your expression.

- LASER ENGRAVING

Laser engraving is a permanent surface engraving without relief. It is BLACK on steel and WHITE on aluminum, whatever its color. Its advantage lies in the fact that it can be used to mark text, illustrations or logos, insignia... on both the front and back of the military plate. However, it cannot be used for photos. On our website, you'll find a library of designs to choose from, or you can post the design of your choice for engraving.

- MECHANICAL ENGRAVING

Also known as line engraving, this is a diamond-tipped engraving technique that only engraves the contours of a motif. At MonIdTag, it is mainly used to engrave black plates. A library of motifs is available for this type of engraving. For a different kind of personalization, you'll need to allow for additional file design costs, which are usually too high for engraving a single plate (around a hundred euros). For a small series, however, this cost can be amortized.

- COLOR PRINTING

This involves doming on a steel dog tag base. An initial UV print is applied to the metal, followed by a second "cold enameling" operation using a polyurethane resin (phthalate- and organotin-free). This technique ensures excellent preservation of the marking, particularly when the plate is to be used as a key ring. As with mechanical engraving, different markings are available from a library of motifs. For customized marking, a minimum order of 100 pieces is required.