14 March 2023
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Royal Mail's new set of special stamps celebrating flowers are the first to feature the silhouette of HM King Charles III, the first change of silhouette since 1968.
The creation of the new HM King Charles III silhouette was a collaboration between the illustrator Andrew Davidson, Head of Design and Editorial at Royal Mail, Marcus James, and Ian Chilvers, from design agency, Atelier Works.
The project began with Andrew Davidson creating a likeness that would work at stamp size.
The second major stage of development was the digitising and fine-tuning of the detail in the silhouette. This was conducted by both Royal Mail and Atelier Works with visual adjustments that were tested at actual size to ensure the silhouette would work at the diminutive dimensions required.
The final image was adjusted to ensure a likeness to the new definitive ’everyday’ stamp.
David Gold, Director of External Affairs & Policy, Royal Mail, said:
“His Majesty is known to be a passionate gardener and we are delighted that the first Special Stamps to feature his silhouette should be a celebration of some of the most popular flowers in British gardens”.
The Flowers stamps
The stamps feature striking photographs of flowers against a white background alongside their common names and show:
- Sweet pea
- Iris
- Lily
- Sunflower
- Fuchsia
- Tulip
- Peony
- Nasturtium
- Rose
- Dahlia
Royal Mail worked closely with gardening writer Naomi Slade on the stamp issue.