THE Great British postbox is like none other in the world. The iconic red portals stand to attention on many street corners and hold our letters that get sent across the country. But have you ever noticed the GR and ER symbols stamped on? Well, they have an interesting meaning that not many people know about.
And the revelations have got Brits running to their nearest postboxes to see what theirs reads. The letters on the front of postboxes have always had subtle reference Monarch of the time - which for 63 years was to Queen Elizabeth. And despite King Charles now taking the crown, the letters will remain the same.
The letters are called the “Royal Cypher” and they reveal when the post box was erected If you find a postbox that has the letters “ER” on then you can usually tell it was produced within the past 70 years. The Queen took to the throne in 1952 so a lot of post boxes will have been installed with these initials. They stand for Elizabeth, Regina which was the late monarch’s name followed by the word “Queen” in Latin.
Similarly, you can tell that a “GR” post box was put up during the era of King George V, from 1910 to 1936, while “GR VI” boxes were from the reign of George VI, from 1936 to 1952. The G stands for George, and the R stands for Rex, which is King in Latin. So if the post box in your area has these letters you know that it’s been standing proudly since before the 1950s.
Many royal fans recently learned the news and have said that t.
