With the end of Queen Elizabeth’s historic reign on the British throne, plenty of changes need to be discussed. While The Royal Family is already undergoing many of those changes, there are other parts of daily life that will need a shakeup for those in the U.K. and beyond. A big one is all of the documents, currency and other items featuring the queen’s visage.
King Charles III is officially on the throne after his mother’s passing, which means he’ll also ascend to appear on a slew of documents in place of the late queen. According to The Guardian, everything will change to reflect the queen’s death and the king’s rise, with some already happening due to the National Anthem change shortly after her death was announced.
Videos by PopCulture.com
According to The Guardian, the changes will affect far more than stamps and currency. Flags belonging to military regiments, branches of the military and countries that still recognize the monarch as the head of state, like Australia and Canada, will be changing. This could also include the royal standard flag, which hangs when the monarch is in residence at a location, which might see a shakeup too. Queen Elizabeth long had a flag that represented Ireland and Scotland in two separate quarters of the flag, with England represented by two quarters.
Currency, including bank notes and coins, will take a bit longer but they are guaranteed to change. To replace the notes and coins in circulation, The Guardian notes it could take up to two years for an official change. While the queen was long featured on the currency in the Commonwealth, it wasn’t always the case with the monarchy. Before 1960, the monarch was not featured on banknotes. Any new image featuring King Charles would need to be approved by Buckingham Palace before any moves are made.
Also up for possible change are the Royal arms, currently featuring a lion and unicorn against a shield, which are used on government buildings, stationary, and many other items. It is also unlikely to change due to its costly nature. The same applies to post office boxes with the queen’s royal cypher, which won’t be replaced and some are still in use featuring King George VI’s cypher. Stamps and other items with change, though, with the last stamp set released officially featuring Queen Elizabeth is a tribute to Transformers.
There are also countless other small changes to come, and changes in members of the Commonwealth, including former colonies like Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Antigua, Barbuda, the Bahamas, and many others. It is poised to be an interesting time for places formerly under the British Empire.
