Ziggy Stardust London Plaque Gets Go Ahead

The Daily Mail has reported that a proposed plaque to honour the creation of Ziggy Stardust has been given the go-ahead by the City of Westminster in London.

In an original proposal from Westminster in 2005 it was proposed that: “The nomination for a commemorative plaque for Ziggy Stardust be approved, but in a colour other than green, subject to sponsorship in full, and to it not being included in the list of green plaques.”

Apparently, the criteria for selecting people to commemorate under the scheme includes one which states that the individual must no longer be alive. This is an unusual nomination in that the person, Ziggy Stardust, is an imaginary being, and his creator, David Bowie, is still alive. This nomination therefore does not meet the criteria for a green plaque.

However, Westminster advised that: “The proposal to commemorate Ziggy Stardust and Heddon Street with a form of commemorative plaque is considered to be an imaginative and worthwhile one, and it is recommended that the nomination be approved, but that a different colour be chosen for the plaque, so that it is distinctive from the green plaques, and not listed within the green plaques scheme.”

The Royal Mail has a similar ruling for living persons not being depicted on stamps, but, as you know, the fictional Ziggy Stardust helped them bend those rules too.