To coincide with HM The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, we have been looking through our photographic archive to dig out some wonderful pictures of trams decorated for royal occasions through the years.
Decorated tramcars have been used to help celebrate significant royal events such as Jubilees, Coronations and royal visits since the Victorian era. Decorations ranged from flags and bunting on early horse-drawn trams, to elaborate colourful illuminations on electric tramcars.
Jim Dignan, a volunteer in the museum’s library, has put together a fascinating collection of photographic examples of trams decorated for royal occasions. Some of these images will be on display for the next few weeks in the ‘Octagon’ building at the Wakebridge tram stop at the museum. Below are just a couple of images from our collection to show how wonderfully elaborate decorated trams could be!
A Leeds tram decorated for George V’s Coronation in 1911 ©The National Tramway Museum.
Birmingham tramcar no. 63 decorated for King George VI’s Coronation, 1937 © The National Tramway Museum.
If you would like to find out more information and see many more photographs, you can download the booklet put together by Jim by clicking on this link here: A Right Royal Spectacle The Tramcar’s Role in Royal Pageantry