Slogan Postmarks for January 2026 - and other postal markings

A reminder of what these monthly listings are for.  

For each month I record the different slogans in use, plus the default slogan that is used when there is nothing else.

For each of these I try to record only one of each of the basic two types (see the BHF slogans below), plus any that are reversed on square envelopes, which normally only gives three or four.  

Occasionally a slogan appears with different line spacing in the same format. 

I do not record multiple versions of the same as any of these unless I later get a much better example of one that I showed purely for the record, but which is otherwise not very clear.

The only exception to this, which doesn't seem to happen much these days, is when a slogan is used well out of time, such as the Air Ambulance Week slogan below which is from September 2024!  

I mention this only to avoid readers unnecessarily duplicating what has already been provided.

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What's the Default?

Regular readers will know that, in the context of slogan postmarks reported here, I have used the term 'default' to mean the slogan that Royal Mail revert to when there isn't a campaign slogan in use, like "St George's Day".

In 2016 they were using the Royal Mail 500 slogan, followed in 2018 by "mental health awareness", but they also supported the 'Stroke Association" regularly, and at the end of the year it was "Action for Children" which ran into 2022.  A number of Covid-related slogans were used, followed by the current British Heart Foundation slogan from early 2023.

I've recently been told that in technical terms there is a different meaning of 'default'.  This was prompted by the report below of the use of the Air Ambulance slogan.   The technical default is the slogan that was current at the time of the last update of the basic IMP software which must have been during the currency of 'Air Ambulance'.  

I understand that the BHF slogan has to be re-downloaded every time it becomes the one to be used, ie after each other campaign ends.  My source suggests that this makes it a 'filler' slogan.  "The true default slogan appears whenever the software has to be completely reloaded in an IMP when it receives whatever slogan was in use the last time the (basic) software was fully updated. At that point any further updates should be added, including the current campaign slogan."

So if the current campaign slogan or the BHF slogan are not added at that time, printing of the one in use when the software was previously updated will resume albeit months after the original use. *  

That seems to me to be highly inefficient, but I'll accept what I was told unless anyone else who has technical information on the IMPs or iLSMs provides any other detail.   

* This is similar to Post & Go errors when a reboot reverts to previous postal rates until the update software has been reapplied to charge new rates. 

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So given the different meanings of 'default' - the logical and the technical - I shall continue to use the term which I have used since 2016 for "the slogan which Royal Mail use when they don't have anything else to promote". 

Thanks to PW for the explanation and disucssion.

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January starts (as December ended) with the default British Heart Foundation slogan., and we already have both regular examples.  JH provided the one from Norwich, and RW the one from Plymouth both dated 2 January.

Default British Heart Foundation slogan Norwich Mail Centre 02-01-2026

Default British Heart Foundation slogan Plymouth & Cornwall 02/01/2026

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Now two for the price of one from LT.  Superimposed on the BHF slogan here is one for Air Ambulance Week - which is something of a surprise because that has the date September 8th - 14th.  So I don't know what's going on at Sheffield Mail Centre, because both slogans were applied there but the date on the BHF slogan is illegible.

Support your
Air Ambulance

Air Ambulance Week
September 8th - 14th

Air Ambulance Week September slogan used Sheffield Mail Centre 06/01/2026

 The year's first error!! 

UPDATE 24 January.  Trevor reports that the Air Ambulance error at Sheffield continues... 

Air Ambulance Week September slogan used Sheffield Mail Centre 22/01/2026

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UPDATE 27 January: The annual Holocaust Memorial Day slogan has been brought back into use. The earliest date I have is 26 January, the example from Cornwall Mail Centre. Unlike last year, Royal Mail did not advertise this on X.   

Holocaust
Memorial Day
27 January 2025
Remember the past
Protect the future

Holocaust Memorial Day used at Cornwall 26/01/2026

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Other postmarks and postal markings, etc

Unfortunately this image from JW is only a fraction of the cover, but I imagine it was referred to Revenue Protection to check on some of the stamps.  Whatever the outcome, it was passed to be delivered as normal.

We showed a 1st class version of this in 2023, and now we have a 2nd class version.

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Update 30 January.  Dereham rectangular cancellation.

I recently found this one in my office - I have used the term 'cancellation' because I'm not convinced that this was ever designed to used as a postmark handstamp. You can get an idea of the size from the stamps but this is exactly 60 x 35 mm.  It looks like an office stamp: it doesn't include the county, but it does include Royal Mail at the top.  

ROYAL MAIL
-4 OCT 1995
DEREHAM
NR19 2AA 

This won't be the only example. but I believe this was part of a mailshot from the town council sending out certificates from a local art and craft show. I doubt that many people will have kept the envelope unless it was just somewhere to store their certificates.  

The two single-band 19p definitives pay the 1st class 60-100g rate of 38p.

60 x 35 mm rectangular postmark Royal Mail Dereham NR19 2AA

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Remember, slogan postmarks appearing in January will be added to this post, so check here before you spend time scanning and emailing.

 

 

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