''On His Majesty's Service'' or ''On Her Majesty's Service'' (depending on the gender of the reigning monarch), is an official

franking Franking comprises all devices, markings, or combinations thereof ("franks") applied to mails of any class which qualifies them to be postally serviced. Types of franks include postage stamps (both adhesive and printed on postal stationery, whethe ...

commonly seen on correspondence from government departments in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and other countries that share the same monarch as their head of state (now known as

Commonwealth realm A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations that has the same constitutional monarch and head of state as the other realms. The current monarch is King Charles III. Except for the United Kingdom, in each of the re ...

s). The expanded form, ''On His/Her Britannic Majesty's Service'' has been used for international correspondence, for example for mail to British diplomatic posts in other countries. In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, the initialism O.H.M.S. may be written on an envelope instead of using

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

s for any letters being sent to the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada () is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Monarchy of Canada#Parliament (King-in-Parliament), Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Ca ...

or to any member of the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada () is the Canadian federalism, federal legislature of Canada. The Monarchy of Canada, Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate of Canada, Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, form the Bicameral ...

. Letters sent from

lieutenant-governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a " second-in-com ...

s may also bear the O.H.M.S. mark. The French translation ''Service de sa Majesté'' (''SDSM'') is also used. In

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

before

Federation A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

, letters in envelopes franked with the O.H.M.S. mark were exempt from postal fees.

In popular culture

*'' O.H.M.S.'' is a 1937 British action comedy film. * The title of

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...

's 1963

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

novel '' On Her Majesty's Secret Service'', along with its

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

, is a play on the phrase. *''

On His Majesty's Secret Service ''On His Majesty's Secret Service'' () is a 2009 Hong Kong comedy film, written, produced and directed by Wong Jing. The Chinese title (literal translation: "Imperial Secret Agent: Smart Dog") is a parody of the title of the 1996 film '' Forbid ...

'' is a 2009 Hong Kong action comedy film whose title is a play on the phrase. *The title of the 2023 James Bond novel, ''On His Majesty's Secret Service'' by

Charlie Higson Charles Murray Higson (born 3 July 1958) is an English actor, comedian, author and former singer. He has also written and produced for television and is the author of the young adult post-apocalyptic book series ''The Enemy'', as well as the fi ...

, is both a play on the phrase and on the title of the Fleming novel.

References

{{Reflist Postal systems Philatelic terminology

In popular culture

See also

References