Signs and boards are standard-rated (20% VAT) in the UK under HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, section 2.
Signs and boards
20% VAT
The zero rate only covers paper and card. Fabric, vinyl, PVC, foamboard and the like are standard-rated.
HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, section 2
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The zero rate covers goods produced on paper and similar materials such as card. That's the boundary signs fall outside: Foamex, Correx, Dibond and ACM, acrylic, polypropylene, aluminium and vinyl aren't paper or card, so nothing printed on them gets the zero rate. It has nothing to do with quality or price, and there's no size at which a printed sheet becomes a sign. Worth knowing because printers are asked constantly whether a cheaper substrate changes the VAT. It doesn't, in either direction.
What it's printed on, and what it's for. Not paper or card means 20% before you even reach the display question.
HMRC VAT Notice 701/10, section 2, HMRC's guidance on zero rating books and printed matter. See the notices we work from.
Not paper or card, so outside the zero rate entirely.
Aluminium composite. Same answer, and the substrate's cost makes no difference.
Card this time, but it's a sheet for display, so paragraph 4.1 catches it.