Page 2 - Standing Display
P. 2
BEREAVEMENT BLACK BORDERS
A SUMMARY OF A STATIC DISPLAY AT
THE ROYAL PHILATELIC SOCIETY LONDON
DECEMBER 2016
Mourning covers are defined as black-edged letters, cards or
envelopes, used in many countries particularly in the mid-19th to
mid-20th centuries, as harbingers of death and
messengers of grief and sympathy.
Mourning covers were a visible part of the culture and social
behaviour of people particularly in the Victorian and Edwardian eras.
The gradual growth of the use of a black border on the edges of death
or funeral notices, on memorial and burial cards to honour the dead,
and also the use of black edged stationery for letters to and from those
in mourning, is briefly displayed.
The first posted mourning cover was recorded in Luxembourg in
1767. In Britain it reached its peak in the late 1800s to early/mid
1900s, more or less coming to an end in the 1930s, though some are
still used today.
When a member of the Royal Family dies, there is a six-month period
of mourning. The stationery used by the Royal Household and family,
by tradition has a black border as a mark of respect.
The official period of mourning is six months into the new reign.
Black edged stationery envelopes and letter headings are used by
Government Departments when a sovereign dies.
On :iiis Majesty's Service.
