THE KING’S COLOUR.

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 302, 5 December 1936, Page 6

THE KING’S COLOUR.

11 ' ■ Use of Red Distinguishes Port Office. s y • •

British Post Office has been the origin of the use of red as the' distinctive '£6lour associat-ed-with® that great organisation. It ’discovered that red had been from early times the royal colour of England, and as the post office organisation had ’its origjifr itu£be royal couriers, established for-the conveyance of the King’s'despatches, the royal colour was the naturalAcboice for the British Postal SerVichr lii 6ourse’ ? 4f time- brilliance has given ’place to utility in-the-* design Ao'f postal uniforms, and <no)V, except for the scarlet frock coat df tiiri door-keepers at the office, -is -the sole relic of the splendour jof earlier days. In New Zealand, a red van is instantly recognised as a post-office vehicle, <and pillar-boxes carry the samel bright hue. The only survival of red ift uniforms in New Zealand is the jitjifeg of uniform trousers and tunicj and; a touch of brilliance in the official caps. now coming iljto use colour, as this has been definitely adopted to indicate airmail Air-xnail .. 4 bags are blue,’.apir air-mail posting-boxes -of the samecolour are gradually making their appearance in the Dominion;