Showcasing London's Red Icons in Poster Form
Check out the image to the left which is a fun poster that displays some of London's red icon and is available from AllPosters.
Let's look at some cool London posters that celebrate this old capital city of England as well as the bright and cheerful color red.
London Landmark Prints (with a touch of red)
First we have a vintage style London print which showcases London's iconic Big Ben as well as starring two of the 'red icons' - the London bus and the British Telephone box. The second poster is a vintage style print of London's Picadilly Circus with the almost obligatory red London buses featured as well!
London Landmark Vintage Photo Print by kicksdesign
Find more matted prints
Picadilly Circus, London, England
This next London poster has a definite 60s feel to it as people from around the world all seemed to want to travel to London to see if the streets really were lined with gold!
More London Prints and Posters
I love these compilation style prints of London as they really do add a 'freshness' to the room. I'm about to redecorate my home office and I'm loving the idea of either a poster like these or one of the black and white with a splash of red London prints further down the page.
Black, White & Red London Prints
London Bus Posters
I grew up in the UK and emigrated to NZ when I was a teenager. I went back to visit after about 10 years away and as the plane was circling (which we did for absolutely ages, but that's another story) I remember looking out of the window and spotting a London bus. I was travelling with my gran who couldn't believe how excited I was to see the double decker bus! I would never have thought that I'd missed seeing the red double decker buses on the road, but I obviously did.
More London Bus Posters
The London bus is often featured alongside other London icons when you see it in poster or print form like with these following posters.
This first London bus poster has the London bus running up alongside another red icon - the poppy red British phone box and you should also note that there is a British mail box hiding in the background as well! Besides the red icons this London poster also features the London Eye as well as the iconic clock tower we refer to as Big Ben. A very bright London poster for you to choose in fact.
This next London poster featured the London bus alongside another iconic London feature, albeit one that's not red - it's black. The London taxi cab. This poster almost gives the impression that the bus and cab are racing each other which I think looks pretty neat. In the background is another iconic sign - the London Underground - with it's flash of red it certainly helps to remind us that London is the city in red! As with the previous poster the London Eye and Big Ben also feature here.
British Telephone Box Posters
I can remember watching a British gardening show where they actually got an old telephone box and used it as a focal point in the garden. My eyes lit up and my husband just shook his head at me ................... we're only half way around the world, how much could shipping really be??!!
Luckily there's a great selection of posters and prints embracing our old red British telephone boxes so I can add a little of 'Olde England' to my home with these prints instead .............................. if I can decide which one or ones I prefer that is.
In real life a number of the poppy red colored telephone boxes can still be found around the whole of the British Isles not just London thanks to the efforts of different historical societies and trusts.
This first photographic poster stars the poppy red colored telephone booth at the well known Trafalgar Square - I love the fact that Nelson's Column is in the background of this image, but to be honest I'm not really sold on the light.
Red British Mail Box Prints
You can get an idea as to how old a British post box is if you look closely at what is written under the crown as this will be the reigning monarch at the time that the post box was made. For example most of the post boxes I remember using when I was younger had EIIR which stands for Elizabeth II Regina or in other words Queen Elizabeth II which means that these boxes would now be no older than 50 years old.
In a village near where I grew up there was a a box that had GVIR which meant that it had been made between 1936 and 1952. Anyway let's look at some canvas prints of the British Post Box -
This vintage design canvas print just shows part of the letter box as opposed to the full red post box that we are used to seeing, but I like it. VR as I'm sure you know stands for Queen Victoria (or Victoria Regina if you want the literal translation!)
Queen's Guard Prints & Posters
I always thought when I was younger that they were called the Irish Guard, but this is only one of the regiments that the Queen's Guards are picked from the others include - the Scots Guards, the Welsh Guards, the Grenadier Guards, and the Coldstream Guards.
This first poster is of the Changing of the Guard which usually takes place at around 11am so if you're visiting London be sure to be at Buckingham Palace to witness this event.
Beefeaters Posters
Beefeaters or the Yeomen Warders have been a London tourist attraction for as long as I can remember serving as a ceremonial guard at the Tower of London. They were actually formed in Tudor times by the head of the Tudor Dynasty - Henry VII which is why the red and gold uniforms they are famous for are referred to as the Tudor State Dress and have only changed slightly since the 1500s. For everyday use (when it's not a state occassion) the Beefeaters wear an 'undress' uniform which is mainly dark blue, but it does feature that great London color - red!
London Underground Posters
Whenever I see the London Underground sign the Jam song "Going Underground" starts playing in my head and I'm not even a huge Jam fan! The red circle with the blue line and white words saying UNDERGROUND is an instantly recognizable sight to people around the world.
What I didn't appreciate about the Underground when I was last on it (as a teenager) was the history behind it - part of the London Underground was actually opened in 1863 making it the oldest underground railway in the world. If you want to play homage to 'the Tube' as it's fondly referred to then here's a couple of London posters for you to choose from -