A treasury tag, India tag, or string tag is an item of

stationery Stationery refers to writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery usually specifies materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter paper) or by equipment such as computer p ...

used to fasten sheets of

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...

together or to a folder. It consists of a short length of string, with metal or plastic cross-pieces at each end that are orthogonal to the string. They are threaded through holes in paper or card made with a

hole punch A hole punch, also known as a hole puncher or paper puncher, is an office supplies, office tool that is used to create holes in sheets of paper, often for the purpose of collecting the sheets in a Ring binder, binder or folder (such collected sh ...

lawyers bodkin A lawyers bodkin or ribbon threader is a tool used in work with stationery. It is used to bore holes in paper documents so that a connector such as legal tape, a treasury tag or a brass fastener can be threaded through the hole in the documents ...

electric drill A drill is a tool used for making round holes or driving fasteners. It is fitted with a drill bit for making holes, or a screwdriver bit for securing fasteners. Historically, they were powered by hand, and later mains power, but cordless bat ...

, and the cross-pieces are sufficiently wide as to not slip back through the holes. The names ''Treasury tag'' and ''India tag'' are first found on record in a list of stationery items published by

His Majesty's Stationery Office The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the U ...

(HMSO) in 1912, and, both being capitalised, probably refer to

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

and the

India Office The India Office was a British government department in London established in 1858 to oversee the administration of the Provinces of India, through the British viceroy and other officials. The administered territories comprised most of the mo ...

. While the terms are now equivalent, a ''Treasury tag'' was originally a lace with a sharp metal tag at one end, which could be threaded through the holes in a stack of documents or cards and inserted into a corresponding tag at the other end, thus forming a loop and binding the documents. The tags, in that case, were in line with the string, similar to

aglet An aglet ( ) or aiglet is a small sheath, often made of plastic or metal, attached at each end of a shoelace, a cord, or a drawstring. An aglet keeps the fibers of the lace or cord from unraveling; its firmness and narrow profile make it eas ...

s on a

shoelace Shoelaces, also called shoestrings (US English) or bootlaces (UK English), are a system commonly used to secure shoes, boots, and other footwear. They typically consist of a pair of strings or cords, one for each shoe, finished off at both end ...

References

Stationery Fasteners {{tool-stub