Why no living people appear on US postage stamps

The practice of putting images of only deceased or allegorical people on U.S. stamps dates back to 1847. Schulte Productions/iStock via Getty Images Plus

With the ascension of King Charles III to the British throne, some commentators have made much of the fact that the new stamp bearing his image features the king without a crown.

This is a major break with a tradition that began in 1840 with the world’s first postage stamp, the Penny Black, which featured the reigning monarch, Queen Victoria, wearing her crown.