QR Codes for Memorials and Headstones
A headstone has room for a name and two dates. A code gives it room for a life.
Memorial QR codes are placed on headstones, benches, plaques and urns, and they link to a page holding photographs, an obituary, recorded stories, or a tribute book that family can add to. The engraving is permanent in a way almost nothing else is, which makes the choice of code unusually consequential: a static code fixes the destination for as long as the stone stands, and hosting outlives very few people's plans. A dynamic code keeps the engraved image fixed while the page behind it can move to a new host decades later.
Why use a dynamic QR code for this
More than a name and two dates
Photographs, a eulogy, recorded voices, a family tree - everything a stone has no room for, one scan away at the graveside.
The engraving never has to change
A dynamic code is a redirect you control. If the tribute page moves to a new host in twenty years, the stone stays exactly as it is.
Somewhere for family to add
Point it at a page relatives can contribute photos and memories to, so the memorial keeps growing after the funeral.
How to set it up
- 1
Choose or build the tribute page: photos, obituary, recordings, a guest book
- 2
Generate a dynamic QR code so the destination can be moved later without re-engraving
- 3
Give the file to the monumental mason as an SVG, and keep the account details with the family papers
Before you print it
If your memorials code may ever need to point somewhere else, create it as a dynamic QR code you can edit after printing. The printed pattern never changes; only the destination behind it does.
Memorials FAQ
Will an engraved or etched code actually scan?
It can, but it is the hardest surface in this whole category. Phones read contrast, and engraved granite gives you shadow rather than black and white. Ask the mason for an infilled engraving in a contrasting colour, or a laser-etched metal or ceramic plaque set into the stone, and insist on test-scanning the finished piece in overcast light before it is installed.
What size should a headstone code be?
At least 4 to 5 cm square. The scan happens at arm's length while someone is standing, often holding flowers, so give them margin for a shaky hand and poor light. Leave a clear border of plain stone around the code - a decorative frame touching the pattern will stop it reading.
What happens to the page in fifty years?
This is the question worth thinking hardest about, and no provider can honestly promise a century. Two things help: use a dynamic code so the destination can be repointed rather than re-engraved, and write the account details into the family papers alongside the deeds and the will, so whoever holds them can move the page when the time comes.
Do cemeteries allow them?
Many do and some do not, and rules vary by individual burial ground rather than by country. Check with the cemetery or the churchyard authority before commissioning the stone, because a rejected memorial is an expensive thing to redo.
Can I see how many people scanned it?
Dynamic codes log every scan with time, device and rough location, so you can tell which placement is doing the work. Scan analytics are part of Pro.
General questions about how QR codes work, what they cost and how to print them are answered on the QR code FAQ.
Ready to create your memorials code?
Free to start. Make it dynamic to edit anytime and track every scan.
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