POLICE KIOSK and POLICE POST COLOURS

The Posts came ready primed with no top coat of paint.  It was up to the receiving force to decide on the colour to be used.  Who painted the top coat is unknown, but probably the same people who installed the posts.

GPO specification M 255B (March 1955) advises .....
Specification for Paint: Post Office Red; Post Office, Blue; Paint, Flat, Dark Grey' reveals that "The blue paint is required for use on Police Alarm Posts."

Paragraph 5 then goes on to say that the colours "....shall match one of the following shades of B.S. 381C-1949: Red Shade 538; Blue Shade 104; Grey Shade 632."

The colours used on Police Posts are as follows:-

BS 381C - 104 Azure Blue - London Metropolitan Police Posts and Pillars.

BS 381C - 175 Light French Blue - London City Police Posts and Pillars.

Other forces made their own minds up, but many chose the London Metropolitan Police colour (104).

Finding paint today that matches can be a problem but with paint matching it can be resolved.

The dark blue is similar to Dulux gloss Oxford Blue.  With a good undercoat the Dulux gloss has longevity, whilst it was found that commercial vehicle paint tends to power very quickly.  Blue is not a good colour under direct sunlight.

Last revised: March 12, 2023