Special stamps issued to mark 75th anniversary of arrival of MV Windrush

A new set of stamps is being issued marking the 75th anniversary of the arrival of MV Empire Windrush to the UK.

Eight new stamps featuring illustrations created exclusively to celebrate the occasion, will be revealed at a launch event at the Black Cultural Archives in Brixton on Thursday.

The MV Empire Windrush arrived at the Port of Tilbury on June 21 1948 and its passengers disembarked a day later.

It carried several hundred West Indian migrants, many of them veterans of the Second World War and has come to symbolise the mass migration of people from the Caribbean to the UK in the post-war era.

The original artworks were created by five Black British artists, all with Caribbean heritage: Kareen Cox, Bokiba, Tomekah George, Alvin Kofi and Emma Prempeh. Cox, Bokiba and Prempeh designed two stamps each.

The artists were commissioned to create illustrations which celebrate the contribution of the Windrush generation and their influence on life in the UK.

The stamps depict the artists’ personal interpretations of themes including arrivals, education/Saturday schools, music/carnival, working life in the UK, political activity/peaceful protests, sports, food/markets and sound systems/dancehall scene.

Royal Mail also worked with Colin Grant, a British writer of Jamaican origin, and Sonia Grant, an independent historian, writer, researcher and photographic exhibition curator.

Revealing the stamps at the Black Cultural Archives, Winnie Annan-Forson, head of diversity, equity & inclusion at Royal Mail, said: “As Britain marks the 75th anniversary of the 1948 arrival of the MV Empire Windrush, we are honoured to mark this key event with a set of special stamps, featuring vibrant illustrations from talented artists that celebrate the culture and contribution of the Windrush generation and those who followed.

“We are delighted to have brought their stories to life in this special way, passing their legacy on to future generations.”

In addition to the stamps, Royal Mail will be applying a special postmark to stamped mail from June 21 to 26, which will read: MV Empire Windrush, Port of Tilbury, 22nd June 1948.