Country definitives
Country definitives are stamps issued for the UK’s home nations and, in the past, the Channel Islands and Isle of Man. The UK’s first postage stamps appeared in 1840 and were valid across Great Britain and Ireland, then across the UK after 1922.
In 1958, stamps were created specifically for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey, and the Isle of Man. These “regional” stamps kept the Queen’s portrait from the Wilding series but added the symbols of each nation or dependency. They remained valid throughout the UK and the Crown Dependencies until changes over time.
After World War II, the idea of regional stamps grew partly to promote tourism. An official process chose heraldic emblems and symbols for each area, with designs prepared by committees and artists.
Key regional issues began on 18 August 1958 with a 3d stamp in deep lilac. The Scottish designs were by John B. Fleming, Gordon F. Huntly, and Archie B. Imrie. Wales used the Welsh Dragon and leek, with designs by Reynolds Stone. Northern Ireland faced design challenges; the final issue combined Dorothy Wilding’s Queen portrait with symbols like the Red Hand of Ulster and the six-pointed crowned star, plus other motifs. Guernsey was designed by Eric Piprell and showed the Crown of William the Conqueror and the Guernsey lily. Jersey’s stamps, mainly by William Gardner (with Edmund Blampied on the 2½d), featured the Mace of Jersey and the island’s arms along with agricultural imagery.
Jersey and Guernsey became postally independent on 1 October 1969, issuing their own inaugural series. The Isle of Man’s designs, by John Nicholson, featured the Three Legs of Man and related motifs. On 7 July 1971 these four regions were updated to a Machin-style design with a small national emblem in the top left.
The colours of the regional Machin-portrait issues generally matched the main Machin series, with a few exceptions (notably the 4d value).
In the late 1990s, new designs were issued for the four nations, marking the first time England appeared as a separate regional. Scotland and Wales launched on 8 June 1999, Northern Ireland on 6 March 2001, and England on 23 April 2001. These stamps started without borders, but in 2003 received white borders. As rates changed over the years, some values were updated (e.g., the E, 64p/65p values); other denominations were tweaked or reissued to reflect tariff changes.
Today, country definitives showcase heraldic and national symbols for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and England, while the Channel Islands and Isle of Man have their own regional issues or Machin-style designs in different years.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 07:52 (CET).