Mail

Synonyms / Other Terms Used

Post, Post Office, Postal Facilities, Post Box, Mail Box, Letterbox

Category

Services, Public Services, Public Facilities

Message / Function

To indicate the location of post or mail facilities (i.e. any type of facility from a post office to a mail box)

	Source	Description
	D/FW	Outline of front view of envelope with stamp
	S/TA	Outline of front view of envelope with stamp
	ADV	Outline of front view of envelope
	IATA	Outline of front view of envelope
	TC	Outline of front view of envelope
	ISO 7001	Outline of rear view of envelope
	Tern	Outline of rear view of envelope
	AIGA	Outline of rear view of envelope
	ADCA	Outline of rear view of envelope
	BS 8501:2002	Outline of rear view of envelope
	UIC 413	Outline of rear view of envelope
	EJP	Outline of rear view of envelope
	NPS	Rear view of envelope
	DER	Rear view of envelope
	Peru 2016	Rear view of envelope
	Bolivia	Rear view of envelope
	Parks Canada	Rear view of envelope
	O'64	Outline of rear view of envelope with postal symbol
	O'72	Rear view of envelope dropping through slot
	KFAI	Rear view of envelope dropping through slot
	D'source	Mail box and rear view of envelope
	D'source	Stamp, rectangle with jagged line, rear view of envelope
	SWISSTRAFFIC	Rear view of envelope in front of parcel
	SSRS	Rear view of envelope dropping through slot, post horn and crown below
	ADV	Front view of envelope dropping through slot of mail box with horn
	UIC 413 b	Outline of rear view of envelope with post horn above
	ASTRA	Post horn
	STA	Post horn
	DP	Post horn with arrows pointing left and right below
	STA	Post horn with crown above
	McLaren & Braunstein	Front view of post man plus envelope in outline
	BTA 1989	Fat outline square with letters P and O

Discussion

There is research data available on how to indicate the location of post or mail facilities on a visual basis as pictogram:

Using the Production Method Gehringer (1979) explored which mental images or visual stereotypes exist concerning the message Post Office. About 70 % of the responses were covered by three concepts: an envelope (47 %), an envelope plus the postal symbol post horn (12 %), and an envelope plus mailbox (11 %). Another 15 % showed either a mail box or a mail box plus the postal symbol post horn. The remaining 15 % showed several other concepts. The manifold responses indicate that there is no single visual stereotype, but the often used envelope can be seen as dominant. In Brazil 95.6 % of the respondents of a Comprehension Test answered correctly when a pictogram showing rear view of envelope was presented (Fiori, 2008), but in Japan the corresponding comprehension score was 73.4 only (Eco-Mo Foundation, 2001).

The collection shown above is only a small selection of the wide variety of pictograms used all over the world to signify physical post or mail facilities, but it shows that symbols in use do not significantly differ from the results of Gehringer's study. Among the many logos of postal or mail services existing we included only a few based on the post horn. The huge number of icons concerning all aspects of electronic mail were not included in this table. More information on these specific topics can be found e.g. in Emojipedia^®: https://emojipedia.org/search/?q=Mail. Many variants variants related to electronic mail include rear views of envelopes, often with the letter E or the special character @, as the @ symbol is a common element of email addresses.

Recommendation

ISO 7001 PI PF 016: Post / Post office / mail box

We follow the recommendations of ISO and the AIGA Symbol Signs Committee: both support the use of a pictogram showing the back of an envelope in outline. The AIGA Symbol Signs Committee stressed that 'the envelope should be white', which conforms to the general use 'of white or light colored envelopes' (AIGA, 1993).

Tests of pictograms of referent Mail / Post Office

Eco-Mo Foundation (2001): Test data of public information symbols in Japan - Procedure for the testing of public information symbols by the Study Committee. ISO: ISO/TC 145/SC 1 N 329.

Fiori, S. R. (2008): Mapas para o turismo e a interatividade - proposta teórica e prática. Tese de Doutorado - Depto. de Geografia, FFLCH-USP.

Gehringer, J. (1979): Untersuchung über die zeichnerische Gestaltung von Pictogrammen in Abhängigkeit von einigen Persönlichkeitsmerkmalen, sowie Überprüfung einiger Bildzeichen auf ihre Erkennbarkeit. Dissertation, Psychology Department, University of Vienna.