The metal plate mounted on or near the bridge of a Starfleet vessel, recording its name, registry, class, place of construction and a motto chosen for the ship.
A dedication plaque is fitted to every Starfleet ship and station at commissioning, usually on a bridge wall near the turbolift. It gives the ship's name and registry number, its class, the yard where it was built and the date of launch, and from the 24th century a short quotation as a motto.
The Enterprise-D carries the line about boldly going where no one has gone before. Voyager's plaque quotes Tennyson, and the Excelsior's, seen in Star Trek VI, bears a joke from the film Buckaroo Banzai.
Plaques are seldom the focus of a story but are visible on almost every bridge. The production staff used the small print on them to list the names of the people who made the programmes, presented as admirals and shipyard officials.