Did you notice that postboxes look different depending on which country you are in? While the purpose of the mailbox remains the same across countries, the colours reveal a fascinating story about history, war and even traffic safety.
The iconic red postbox in India is reportedly a gift from the British Empire. However, when the British first introduced pillar boxes to India in the 19th century, they weren’t red at all – they were green. (Image: X)
The green colour blended well with the trees and bushes of India and people kept walking right past them. In order to solve this, Britain switched its standard colour to bright red in 1874 to make the boxes impossible to miss, and India followed suit. (Image: X)
Though India uses red for general mail, they also use Green boxes specifically for local city mail and Blue for fast metro cities to help sort letters faster. Nonetheless, this sight is very rare. (Image: X)
While most former British colonies kept red boxes, China went the opposite direction with deep green. This tradition started long befire the internet, during the late Qing Dynasty. Reportedly, when the Qing Empire established its modern postal service, it chose dark green as the official brand colour.
After the founding of the People’s Republic, the government kept the green colour, symbolising peace and prosperity. Eventually, this became a political symbol of sovereignty. When Hong Kong was handed back to China in 1977, the iconic British-era red postboxes were painted green to reflect Chinese sovereignty. (Image: X)
The United States took a very practical route to arrive at its standard dark blue. In the early 1900s, US postboxes were often painted red or dark green. In 1909, the government issued a ban on red boxes because fire hydrants were red. The government worried that in an emergency, people or mailmen might confuse a red mailbox for life-saving fire equipment. (Image: Pexels)
After World War I, the US Army donated huge amounts of leftover Olive Drav (army green) pain to the Post Office, so the boxes stayed green for decades. It was until 1971, when the Post Office became the USPS, that they finally switched to the solid, patriotic dark blue we see today. (Image: Pexels)
