Dedication plaque A dedication plaque was a commemorative plate that was displayed on the bridge of most Starfleet vessel s . The plaque commonly displayed the name of the ship , as well as its class and shipyard of origin . Many later plaques also displayed the ship ' s official motto , plus a list of notable Starfleet officers involved in the assembly of the vessel . History . When a group of four Ferengi pirate s led by Ulis boarded the starship , Ulis removed the ship ' s dedication plaque and attempted to steal it . ( ) After earlier being made to wait for quite some time by the Sheliak , Captain Picard took his time answering their hail , inspecting the ship ' s dedication plaque in 2366 . ( ) In 2368 , after having their memories temporarily submerged , the senior staff of the read the ship ' s dedication plaque to figure out the name of the ship . ( ) When found the in 2376 , Captain Janeway noted that the " Equinox " s plaque had fallen , and advised that they should hang it back up . Similarly , after days of battling with the " Equinox " after they betrayed the " Voyager " crew , " Voyager " s dedication plaque fell down . Janeway noted that , after years of battles , it had never fallen down before , and in a symbolic gesture , they put it back " where it belonged . " ( ) Appendices . Background information . According to the , the dedication plaque on the , seen in the episode , had the following quote : " " Its origin and purpose , still a total mystery . " " The quote is inspired by Dr . Floyd from ' s : " " Dr . Floyd : [ prerecorded message speaking through TV on board " Discovery " while Bowman looks on ] Good day , gentlemen . This is a prerecorded briefing made prior to your departure and which for security reasons of the highest importance has been known on board during the mission only by your H - A - L 9000 computer . Now that you are in Jupiter ' s space and the entire crew is revived it can be told to you . Eighteen months ago the first evidence of intelligent life off the Earth was discovered . It was buried forty feet below the lunar surface near the crater Tycho . Except for a single very powerful radio emission aimed at Jupiter , the four - million year old black monolith has remained completely inert . Its origin and purpose . . . still a total mystery . " The dedication plaque however , was not visible on screen in the final cut of the episode . A dedication plaque was made for the bridge set of the in . However , due to camera angles and lighting conditions , it was illegible . The plaque was located adjacent to the turbolift . The contains a graphic of this plaque , which includes the ship ' s name , registry number , commission ing stardate of 2225 . 5 at San Francisco , California , and the motto " " All glory comes from daring to begin . " " The plaque does not include the ship ' s class . When the script for describes the state of the in the early 2400s , it notes that the " " dedication plaque is probably gone . . . an exhibit in a museum somewhere . " " In the non - canon " " premier novel , Captain Riker has a tough time selecting a proper quote for the ' s dedication plaque . It has never been implied , one way or the other , if it is standard procedure for a ship ' s captain to choose the quote on their own ship ' s plaque .