100 Years of Commemorative Stamps

Royal Mail are celebrating 100 years since the United Kingdom issued its first commemorative stamp in 1924.

On 6 May 1840, the world's first postage stamp came into general use.

The Penny Black changed the way people communicated, rapidly expanding their ability to stay in touch. From the outset stamps became works of art in miniature -exquisite reproductions on a tiny scale. This was to take on a whole new meaning in 1924, when the United Kingdom issued its first commemorative stamp.

In 1924 stamps were proposed to commemorate this British Empire Exhibition, to be held at Wembley Park in London. King George V was a keen stamp collector but he was somewhat unsure about the idea of a commemorative stamp issue, however, despite his initial reluctance several artists were invited to submit designs, and the first British commemorative set, with designs by Harold Nelson, was issued on 23 April 1924, the first day of the exhibition.

In the early days, there were few commemorative issues. King George V got a commemorative stamp set for his Silver Jubilee in 1935. Numbers of commemoratives remained low in the 1950s, with only five issues. These were produced to mark some of the major events of the decade, most notably the Festival of Britain.
The 1960s saw a marked change in stamp production and a period of great expansion in designs and approaches especially following the reforms to Commemorative Stamp issues initiated in 1964.

Commemorative stamps are more than just a way of marking events and anniversaries or celebrating achievements -and certainly more than simply a means of postage. They are works of art in miniature. Often starting out as artworks in more traditional sizes, their designs must work when scaled down to something the size of. ... well, a postage stamp! Over the years, some incredible designers and artists have contributed their work, including Quentin Blake, David Hockney, Paula Rego and Yinka Shonibare.

As commemorative stamps celebrate their 100 years, what better way to mark the anniversary than with a stamp issue about stamp issues!

With this set of ten 1st Class stamps we take a look back at the evolution of Royal Mail’s Commemorative Stamps over the past 100 years.

1st Class British Empire Exhibition, Postal Union, Congress, Silver Jubilee

1st Class Flowers, Halley’s Comet, Transport and Communications

1st Class Royal Silver Wedding, Centenary of First Adhesive Postage Stamps, Peace and Reconstruction

1st Class Robert Burns: The Immortal Memory, Millennium, Architects of the Air

1st Class Tercentenary of ‘General Letter Office’, Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, Festival of Britain

1st Class The Weather, Lest We Forget, Sounds of Britain

1st Class Landscapes, Investiture of HRH The Prince of Wales, National Nature Week

1st Class Landmark Buildings, Jane Austen, Queen

1st Class Philympia 70 Stamp Exhibition, British Wildlife, British Achievement in Chemistry

1st Class Platinum Jubilee, Brilliant Bugs, Windrush:75 Years