Historically, the Post Office used paint manufactured to BS 381C, or equivalent, in the painting of its exchange racking, equipments, post boxes, telephone kiosks, and vehicles. With the advent of more focus on corporate branding, in later decades, the use of pantone colour specification allowed better colour matching and consistency across all medias, e.g. paper, metal, and screen-based images.
BS 381C
The British Standard Specification of colours for identification, coding and special purposes. The latest version of the standard is BS 381C: 1996, which specifies the names and illustrates 91 standard colours. These colour paints are still readily available in the 21st century. A selection of the most used colours are detailed below.
- 538 Post Office Red (previously British Standard Colour No. 38) was used on mailvans until about 1968 when...
- 539 Postal Service Red was used.
- 223 Mid Bronze Green was used on telecom vehicles until about 1968 when...
- 356 Golden Yellow was used.
- 631 Light Grey the original colour of equipment racks. More commonly known as (Light) Battleship Grey.
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384
Light Straw the colour of Post Office equipment racks from about 1960.
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538 Post Office Red: for pillar boxes, post vans, and telephone kiosks up to about 1968. From about 1988, the colour was renamed Cherry Red. |
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539 Postal Service Red: for pillar boxes, post vans, and telephone kiosks after 1968. From about 1988, the colour was renamed Currant Red. |
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223 Mid Bronze Green was used on telecom vehicles until about 1968. The colour continues to be used on telecom street cabinets. |
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356 Golden Yellow was the new safety colour for vans from about 1968 onwards as branding evolved from Post Office Telephones to British Telecom. |
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384 Light Straw was the colour of telephone equipment racks from about 1960 until the end of the Strowger era, circa 1996. The colour is a creamy/yellow shade depending upon application and lighting. |
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631 Light Battleship Grey was the colour of telephone equipment racks prior to 1960. |
British Telecom Grey: https://paintman.co.uk/shop/land-rover-bt-grey-lrc687/
Business Systems: Nightwatch Blue
Note: The colour samples shown are approximate shades. If an existing item needs to be matched, then a sample pot should be requested from the seller. Shades may vary slightly between batches. Click the colour sample(s) for a suggested seller.
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Main photo: Vehicle meet at Milton Keynes Museum © LSA April 2015.
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