Red telephone box

The red telephone box, is a telephone kiosk for a public telephone designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect responsible for Liverpool Cathedral.

The telephone box is a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, its associated Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories and Malta. Despite a reduction in their numbers in recent years, the traditional British red telephone kiosk can still be seen in many places throughout the UK, and in current or former British colonies around the world. The colour red was chosen to make them easy to spot.

From 1926 onwards, the fascias of the kiosks were emblazoned with a prominent crown, representing the British government. The red phone box is often seen as a British cultural icon throughout the world.^[1] In 2006, the K2 telephone box was voted one of Britain's top 10 design icons, which included the Mini, Supermarine Spitfire, London tube map, World Wide Web, Concorde and the AEC Routemaster bus.^[2][3] In 2009, the K2 was selected by the Royal Mail for their "British Design Classics" commemorative postage stamp issue.^[4]

Many of the phone box designs are protected by trade mark registrations and copyright, held by British Telecommunications plc.^[5]