Written by Acorn Sales Company, manufacturing stamps and seals since 1964 · Reviewed by Holly R, VP of Sales and Marketing at Acorn Sales, against no Indiana board; the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency maintains a voluntary Interior Design Registry and IC 25-20.7, added by P.L. HEA 1573-2009, eff. July 1, 2009 on 21 September 2026 · Updated 21 September 2026
Indiana runs a registry rather than a licensing board, and the registry prescribes no seal. IC 25-20.7, added by House Enrolled Act 1573-2009 effective July 1, 2009, directs the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency to maintain an electronic registry of interior designers. Entry is open only to a person holding an active NCIDQ certificate or an active Indiana architect license number, runs for two years, and buys one thing: the exclusive right to the title registered interior designer. The agency’s published registry materials describe no seal and no stamp, and the Indiana Administrative Code has no interior design title at all.
So there is no prescribed design to match, no diameter, no legend and nothing to file. Whatever you carry is a private identification stamp, which makes it a design decision rather than a compliance one. Acorn will make it to whatever you want on it: your own name, your firm name, a monogram, your logo, or a credential you actually hold such as NCIDQ.
The title is the part Indiana does protect. A person may not use the title registered interior designer, or any title, designation, sign, card or device indicating that the person is a registered interior designer, unless registered with the agency. So if your entry is active, those words and your registry standing are yours. If it is not, put your own name, your firm name and any credential you actually hold such as NCIDQ on instead, and leave off “Licensed” and “Registered” and any state-issued title unless the state issued you one, because that is the part some states do restrict.
Indiana interior designer seal requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Indiana rule | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Seal required | Not licensed here | IC 25-20.7, added by P.L. HEA 1573-2009, eff. July 1, 2009 |
| Required elements | Indiana issues no interior design seal; the registry confers a protected title only | IC 25-20.7 |
| Size and shape | No dimension exists. | Indiana Administrative Code title list (no interior design title) |
| Device allowed | Not a regulated purchase. | 804 IAC 1.1-2-7(i) |
| Signature and date | Not addressed, because Indiana issues no interior design credential that seals. | 804 IAC 1.1-2-7(h) |
| What must be sealed | No Indiana document requires an interior designer seal. | 804 IAC 1.1-2-7(i) |
| Electronic seal | Not applicable. | 804 IAC 1.1-2-7(b), (e) |
| Renewal and lapse | Registry entries run for two years and are renewed to stay active, with a fee set by the agency. | IC 25-20.7 |
| Firm requirements | Not applicable. | 804 IAC 1.1-2-8 |
| Regulator | No Indiana board; the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency maintains a voluntary Interior Design Registry | IC 25-20.7, Interior Designers, added by House Enrolled Act 1573-2009 effective July 1, 2009 |
Is a seal required in Indiana?
Indiana does not license or register interior designers through a board, and no Indiana board issues an interior designer seal. What Indiana has instead is a voluntary registry. Under IC 25-20.7, added by House Enrolled Act 1573-2009 effective July 1, 2009, the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency maintains an electronic registry of interior designers. Registration is open only to a person holding an active National Council of Interior Design Qualification certificate or an active Indiana architect license number, runs for two years, and confers title protection: a person may not use the title registered interior designer, or any title, designation, sign, card or device indicating that the person is a registered interior designer, unless the person is registered with the agency. The agency’s published registry materials describe no seal and no stamp.
What must appear on the seal
- Indiana issues no interior design seal; the registry confers a protected title only
There is nothing to specify, because no Indiana board authorizes an interior design seal design and the registry is not a licensing board. The Indiana Administrative Code title list for the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency carries titles for architects and landscape architects (804), professional engineers (864), professional surveyors (865) and licensed professional geologists (305), and no title for interior design. What is policed is the title itself: only a person on the registry may call themselves a registered interior designer.
Size and shape
No dimension exists. Indiana prescribes no interior designer seal. The sources here are the Indiana Administrative Code title list at iar.iga.in.gov, which contains no interior design title, and the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency’s own Interior Design Registry material, which describes registration, qualification, fee and term and says nothing about a seal.
Embosser, rubber stamp or digital
Not a regulated purchase. Any Indiana interior designer device is a private identification stamp with no statutory effect. An Indiana governmental body reviewing specifications, plans and drawings is looking for the seal that 804 IAC 1.1-2-7(i) requires from the architect or landscape architect in responsible charge, or the engineer seal under 864 IAC 1.1.
Signing and dating
Not addressed, because Indiana issues no interior design credential that seals. Where an Indiana submission to a governmental body must be sealed, 804 IAC 1.1-2-7(h) requires the architect’s or landscape architect’s original signature directly adjacent to the seal and not across it, and 865 IAC 1-7-2(b) requires the surveyor’s signature and the date the seal is affixed directly adjacent but not across the seal.
A registry, not a license, and no seal at either end of it
Indiana looks like an interior design credential state because the Professional Licensing Agency lists an Interior Design Registry alongside its boards. It is not a board and it is not a license. IC 25-20.7 directs the agency to maintain an electronic registry, and the qualification is derivative: you get on it by holding an active NCIDQ certificate or an active Indiana architect license number. The entry lasts two years and what it buys is the exclusive right to the title registered interior designer.
Which documents must be sealed
No Indiana document requires an interior designer seal. The sealing duty attaches to specifications, plans and drawings required to be submitted for review by the appropriate governmental body under 804 IAC 1.1-2-7(i), and is discharged by the architect or landscape architect in responsible charge, or by the professional engineer under 864 IAC 1.1.
Electronic and digital seals
Not applicable. The electronic application permissions in 804 IAC 1.1-2-7(b) and (e) and 865 IAC 1-7-1(b), and the electronic transaction rule at 865 IAC 1-7-4, attach to Indiana registrants in those titles. Indiana has no interior design seal and therefore no electronic interior design seal standard.
Renewal, lapse and retirement
Registry entries run for two years and are renewed to stay active, with a fee set by the agency. Because the registry issues no seal, lapse has no effect on any device. What lapse does affect is the title: a person who is not registered may not use the title registered interior designer or any designation, sign, card or device indicating that they are one.
Firm requirements
Not applicable. Indiana registers no interior design firm and issues no certificate of authorization for interior design. The firm provisions in the design titles are 804 IAC 1.1-2-8 for architectural and landscape architectural practice entities, and neither reaches interior design.
What to check before you order
There is no Indiana interior designer seal to order, because Indiana issues a voluntary registry entry rather than a license and prescribes no seal design. If you are on the registry, a plain business or identification stamp with your name and firm is the honest device, and you may use the protected title registered interior designer while your entry is active. Keep the words architect and landscape architect off any device, because those are Indiana registrations under IC 25-4 with their own seals. If your drawings are going to an Indiana governmental body for review, the seal on them belongs to the architect or landscape architect in responsible charge under 804 IAC 1.1-2-7(i), applied to the cover page of the specifications and each sheet of the drawings.
Browse interior designer stamps and seals.
Frequently asked questions
Does Indiana license interior designers?
No. IC 25-20.7 creates a voluntary registry maintained by the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency, not a board and not a license. The Indiana Administrative Code title list carries titles for architects and landscape architects at 804, professional engineers at 864, professional surveyors at 865 and licensed professional geologists at 305, and no title for interior design.
What does being on the Indiana registry give me?
The title. A person who is not registered may not use the title registered interior designer or any designation, sign, card or device indicating that they are one. The qualification for entry is derivative, since it runs off an active NCIDQ certificate or an active Indiana architect license number, and the entry lasts two years with a fee set by the agency.
Is an interior designer seal required in Indiana?
No. The registry issues no seal, prescribes no design and requires no device. The sealing duty in Indiana sits elsewhere: 804 IAC 1.1-2-7(i) puts it on the architect or landscape architect in responsible charge for specifications, plans and drawings required to be submitted for review by the appropriate governmental body.
What can I put on an Indiana interior designer stamp?
Anything true of you: your name, your firm name, a monogram, your logo, contact details, and, if your registry entry is active, the protected title registered interior designer. If it is not active, name the NCIDQ certificate from the Council for Interior Design Qualification instead. With no prescribed layout, size and shape are yours.
What should I keep off an Indiana interior designer stamp?
The words architect and landscape architect, which are Indiana registrations under IC 25-4 with their own seals, and the four design title seal designs in the Indiana Administrative Code, each of which uses a printed design and a 1-5/8 to 1-7/8 inch band. Keep the title registered interior designer off it too unless your registry entry is current.
What size should an Indiana interior designer stamp be?
Any size. Indiana prescribes no interior designer seal and therefore no diameter. The Indiana Administrative Code title list carries no interior design title, and the agency’s own registry material describes registration, qualification, fee and term without mentioning a device.
Who seals an Indiana submission to a governmental body?
The architect or landscape architect in responsible charge, or the professional engineer under 864 IAC 1.1. 804 IAC 1.1-2-7(i) attaches the duty to specifications, plans and drawings required to be submitted for review, applied to the cover page of the specifications and each sheet of the drawings. An interior design device does not substitute for that seal.
Where does the signature go on an Indiana sealed document?
Beside the seal and not across it, which is an Indiana quirk worth knowing even though it does not bind you. 804 IAC 1.1-2-7(h) requires the architect’s or landscape architect’s original signature directly adjacent to the seal and not across it, and 865 IAC 1-7-2(b) requires the surveyor’s signature and the date the seal is affixed directly adjacent but not across.
Can I sign Indiana interior design documents electronically?
Nothing restricts you. The electronic application permissions in 804 IAC 1.1-2-7(b) and (e) and 865 IAC 1-7-1(b), and the electronic transaction rule at 865 IAC 1-7-4, attach to Indiana registrants in those titles. Indiana has no interior design seal and therefore no electronic interior design seal standard.
What happens when my Indiana registry entry lapses?
Since the registry issues no seal, lapse has no effect on any device. What it does affect is the title: a person who is not registered may not use the words registered interior designer or any designation, sign, card or device indicating that they are one. Entries run for two years and are renewed to stay active, so the thing to keep current is printed material carrying the title.
Does an Indiana interior design firm register?
No. Indiana registers no interior design firm and issues no certificate of authorization for interior design. The firm provisions in the design titles are at 804 IAC 1.1-2-8 for architectural and landscape architectural practice entities, and they do not reach interior design.
