St Andrews in Focus: Day 2

Victoria Regina Post Box

in the morning sun.

If you look closely, you can see a ‘V… R’ at the top of the box. 

Again, thank you Wikipedia: 

‘British pillar boxes traditionally carry the Latin initials of the reigning monarch at the time of their installation, for example: VR for Victoria Regina or GR for Georgius Rex. This is now only applicable in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.^{[citation needed]} Such branding is not used in Scotland due to dispute over the current monarch's title. Some Scottish nationalists argue that Queen Elizabeth II should have simply been Queen Elizabeth as there had been no previous Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, only of the 'extinct' after 1707 Kingdom of England (and Wales). That dispute included vandalism and attacks on pillar and post boxes introduced in Scotland that displayed EIIR. To avoid the dispute, pillar boxes in Scotland are either marked 'Post Office' or use the Scots Crown. Similarly, rather than the St Edward's Crown with the EIIR Cipher used elsewhere, in Scotland Royal Mail vans, until recently, have displayed the Scots Crown but without the Royal Cipher’. 

Clearly Scotland does maintain some boxes with the original royal branding.  In this case, it’s from Queen Victoria’s reign—some of the oldest boxes installed.  What the Wiki article should say (as others do) is that, since 1954 when Scots took issue with the EIIR cipher, those newly installed Royal Mail boxes in Scotland simply have ‘Post Office’ or the Scots Crown.  The two I took notice of on my way home today are post-1954 boxes, both adorned merely with a Scots Crown.