List of United Kingdom commemorative stamps

This list of United Kingdom commemorative stamps deals with commemorative stamps issued by Royal Mail, the postal administration of the United Kingdom.

History Postage stamps were first used in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 6 May 1840, with the introduction of the world's first adhesive postage stamps, the Penny Black and Two Pence Blue. Until 1924, all British stamps depicted only the portrait of the reigning monarch, with the exception of the 'High Value' stamps (the so-called "Sea Horses" design) issued in 1913, which were twice the size of normal stamps with added pictorial design.

In 1924, the first commemorative stamp was issued for the British Empire Exhibition. There were then occasional issues over the next thirty years, when the frequency of new issues became more regular. From the mid-1960s, in most years, six to nine sets of commemorative stamps have been issued every year. The General Post Office introduced official First Day Covers and Presentation Packs in the mid-1960s and PHQ Cards, postcard sized reproductions of commemorative stamps, have also been issued to accompany every new set of stamps since the mid-1970s.

All of the stamps introduced down to April 1967 were printed on watermarked paper, as were some introduced later that year; from October 1967, all stamps were on unwatermarked paper.

+ Issue dates of the early British Commemorative stamps, 1924–1969 Issue date Commemorative Issue No. in set Designer(s) 1924 23 April 1924 British Empire Exhibition (dated 1924) Two (1d, d) Harold Nelson 1925 9 May 1925 British Empire Exhibition (dated 1925) Two (1d, d) Harold Nelson 1929 10 May 1929 9th UPU Congress, London Five (d, 1d, d, d, £1) F W Farleigh, Ernest Linzell, Harold Nelson 1935 7 May 1935 Silver Jubilee of George V Four (d, 1d, d, d) Barnett Freedman 1937 13 May 1937 Coronation of George VI One (d) 1940 6 May 1940 Centenary of First Adhesive Postage Stamp Six (d, 1d, d, 2d, d, 3d) 1946 11 June 1946 Victory Two (d, 3d) 1948 26 April 1948 Royal Silver Wedding Two (d, £1) 29 July 1948 Olympic Games Four (d, 3d, 6d, 1s) 1949 10 October 1949 75th Anniversary of Universal Postal Union Four (d, 3d, 6d, 1s) 1951|- 3 May 1951 Festival of Britain Two (d, 4d) 3 May 1951 High Value Definitives George VI Four (2s 6d, 5s, 10s, £1) 1953 3 June 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II Four (d, 4d, 1s 3d, 1s 6d) 1955 September 1955 Castles Four (10s and £1 first issued 1 September, 2s 6d and 5s first issued 23 September) 1957 1 August 1957 World Scout Jubilee Jamboree Three (d, 4d, 1s 3d) 12 September 1957 46th Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference One (4d) 1958 18 July 1958 6th British Empire & Commonwealth Games Three (3d, 6d, 1s 3d) 1960|- 7 July 1960 Tercentenary of Establishment of General Letter Office Two (3d, 1s 3d) Faith Jaques 19 September 1960 1st Anniversary of European Postal & Telecommunications Conference Two (6d, 1s 6d) 1961 28 August 1961 Centenary of Post Office Savings Bank Three (d, 3d, 1s 6d) 18 September 1961 European Postal & Telecommunications (CEPT) Conference, Torquay Three (2d, 4d, 10d) 25 September 1961 7th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference Two (6d, 1s 3d)Faith Jaques 1962 14 November 1962 National Productivity Year Three (d, 3d, 1s 3d) David Gentleman 1963 21 March 1963 Freedom From Hunger Two (d, 1s 3d) 7 May 1963Paris Postal Conference Centenary One (6d) 16 May 1963 National Nature Week Two (3d, d) 31 May 1963 9th International Lifeboat Conference, Edinburgh Three (d, 4d, 1s 6d) David Gentleman 15 August 1963 Red Cross Centenary Congress Three (3d, 1s 3d, 1s 6d) 3 December 1963 Opening of COMPAC (Trans-Pacific Telephone Cable) One (1s 6d) 1964 23 April 1964 Shakespeare Festival Five (3d, 6d, 1s 3d, 1s 6d, 2s 6d) David Gentleman 1 July 1964 20th International Geographical Congress, London Four (d, 4d, 8d, 1s 6d) 5 August 1964 10th International Botanical Congress, Edinburgh Four (3d, 6d, 9d, 1s3d) 4 September 1964 Opening of Forth Road Bridge Two (3d, 6d) Andrew Restall 1965|- 8 July 1965 Winston Churchill Commemoration Two (4d, 1s 3d) David Gentleman 19 July 1965 700th Anniversary of Simon de Montfort's Parliament Two (6d, 2s 6d) Stewart Black D.A 9 August 1965 Salvation Army Centenary Two (3d, 1s6d) 1 September 1965 Centenary of Joseph Lister's discovery of Antiseptic Surgery Two (4d, 1s) 1 September 1965 Commonwealth Arts Festival Two (6s, 1s 6d) David Gentleman 13 September 1965 25th Anniversary of Battle of Britain Eight (6 different stamps at 4d, 9d, 1s 3d) David Gentleman and Rosalind Dease 8 October 1965 Post Office Tower Two (3d, 1s 3d) Clive Abbott 25 October 1965 20th Anniversary of UNO and International Co-operation Year Two (3d, 1s 6d) 15 November 1965 ITU Centenary Two (9d, 1s 6d) 1966 25 January 1966 Burns Commemoration Two (4d, 1s 3d) Gordon F. Huntley 28 February 1966 900th Anniversary of Westminster Abbey Two (3d, 2s 6d) Sheila Robinson 2 May 1966 Landscapes Four (4d, 6d, 1s 3d, 1s 6d) Leonard Rosoman 1 June 1966 World Cup Football Championship Three (4d, 6d, 1s 3d) 8 August 1966 British Birds Four (Four different 4d) J Norris Wood 18 August 1966 England's World Cup Football Victory{4d value from the June set, with 'England Winners' added to design} One (4d) David Gentleman 19 September 1966 British Technology Four (4d, 6d, 1s 3d, 1s 6d) D Gillespie 14 October 1966 900th Anniversary of Battle of Hastings Eight (Six different 4d, 6d, 1s 3d) David Gentleman 1 December 1966 Christmas Two (3d, 1s 6d) Tasveer Shemza and James Berry. Shemza and Berry were six-year-old children whose stamp designs won a Blue Peter competition. Shemza was the daughter of the artist Anwar Shemza. 1967 20 February 1967 European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Two 24 April 1967 British Wild Flowers Six 10 July 1967 British Paintings Three 24 July 1967 Sir Francis Chichester's World Voyage One 19 September 1967 British Discovery and Invention Four 18 October 1967 Christmas (4d value) One 27 November 1967 Christmas (3d & 1s 6d values) Two 1968 29 April 1968 British Bridges Four 29 May 1968 British Anniversaries Four David Gentleman 12 August 1968 British Paintings Four 25 November 1968 Christmas Three 1969 15 January 1969 British Ships Six (5d, 3 × 9d se-tenant, 2 × 1s se-tenant) David Gentleman 3 March 1969 First flight of Concorde Three (4d, 9d, 1s 6d) Michael Goaman & David Gentleman 2 April 1969 Anniversaries Five 28 May 1969 British Architecture, Cathedrals Six 1 July 1969 Investiture of HRH The Prince of Wales Five 13 August 1969 Gandhi Centenary Year One 1 October 1969 Post Office Technology Commemoration Four David Gentleman 26 November 1969 Christmas Three

Other decades From 1965 onwards, in most years, there were between six and ten sets issued every year. The listings for the years after 1969 are set out in decades.

United Kingdom commemorative stamps 1970–1979 United Kingdom commemorative stamps 1980–1989 United Kingdom commemorative stamps 1990–1999 United Kingdom commemorative stamps 2000–2009 United Kingdom commemorative stamps 2010–2019 United Kingdom commemorative stamps 2020–2029

List of United Kingdom commemorative stamps

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