What will ER change to when Charles is King? What does Queen’s royal cypher mean - will it change on post box

Britain has its first new monarch in 70 years.

QueenElizabeth II died at Balmoral Castle in Scotland on Thursday (8 September) at the age of 96.

She had sat on the throne since 1952, following the death of her father King George VI.

Elizabeth II’s son Charles is now the new monarch and will be formerly proclaimed King at the Accession Council on Saturday (10 September) morning.

But the end of one reign and the start of another brings with it many changes.

From money to stamps, passports and even the national anthem.

The Royal cypher will also under go change following the accession of King Charles III.

Here is all you need to know:

What does ER mean?

ER, or EIIR, was the Royal cypher throughout the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

It was featured on postboxes, traditional police helmets, royal and state documents.

The cypher stood for Elizabeth Regina - with Regina being the Latin word for queen.

The use of II in the cypher was to signify that she was the second Queen Elizabeth - Elizabeth II.

However in Scotland EIIR was not used due to the country not recognising Elizabeth I at the time of her reign, being ruled by Mary Queen of Scots instead.

What will ER change to when Charles is King?

Following the accession of King Charles III there will be a new Royal cypher.

He will use CIIIR - standing for Charles III Rex.

Rex is the Latin word for king, ruler or monarch.

How will the cypher change?

As well as swapping from ER to CIIR, the cypher may also feature a different crown to the one used for Elizabeth II’s.

While English queens use the St Edward’s crown, or a variant of it, kings traditionally use the more rounded Tudor crown.

The cypher will be confirmed in due course.

Will the cypher change on postboxes?

The ER (or EIIR) cypher has been used on postboxes across the country throughout the reign of Elizabeth II.

It has not yet been confirmed, but any new postboxes could feature the new King’s cypher.

Will the coat of arms change?

The royal coat of arms, adopted at the start of Queen Victoria’s reign in 1837, will remain the same.

But just as when the Queen became monarch, it is likely that new artwork will be issued early in Charles’s reign by the College of Arms for use by public service bodies such as the civil service and the armed forces.

The “very light rebranding” will be hard to spot, but it signifies the opportunity to replace old images, which have been in use for many decades, with newer differently stylised ones.

The Duke of Cambridge will be given an updated coat of arms having been made the Prince of Wales – a title which he does not inherit automatically.

Will stamps change now we have a king?

The new King will at some stage feature on British stamps, and others around the Commonwealth.

He may have already sat for such sculptures or portraits, and he will again have to approve the designs.

For her first stamps as monarch, the Queen was photographed by Dorothy Wilding three weeks after acceding to the throne and again around two months later, finally approving the image in May 1952.

This portrait from 1952 was replaced in 1967 by the famous sculptured head by Arnold Machin, accompanied by the tiny cameo silhouette of the Queen.