Festival of Britain stamp issue 1951

Festival of Britain two and a halfpence stamp

Festival of Britain fourpence stamp

Key facts

• The Festival of Britain was the post-war Labour government’s way of boosting public morale
• Much of London was badly damaged after the Second World War
• Britain had lost much of its empire in 1948 and was having trouble getting used to its new situation as a lesser power
• It was hoped that the Festival would establish what being British meant again after the loss of the Empire and the Second World War
• The festival marked the 100th anniversary of the Great Exhibition in 1851 which had been a celebration of Victorian industry
• The main exhibition space was on the South Bank by the River Thames but other exhibition spaces and development projects occurred around London and the rest of the country
• The South Bank had previously been warehouses and industrial buildings
• It is thought that many of the new design ideas that emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s were as a result of the Festival
• Young people also began to have a style of their own for the first time
• Two commemorative stamps* were issued on 3 May 1951 to mark the Festival of Britain
• The blue stamp (4d – fourpence stamp) shows the symbol of the festival itself. It shows Britannia* with bunting hung over her. It also shows the King’s head
• The red stamp (2½d - two and a halfpence stamp) shows King George VI’s head on one side, the head of Britannia* on the other and a cornucopia* and a caduceus* in the centre

Key vocabulary

• Britannia - symbol of Britain and her Empire
• Caduceus - ancient symbol of commerce
• Commemorative stamp - a stamp issued to mark a particularly important event
• Cornucopia - a horn of plenty