Roman lettering or Trajan lettering[a] refers to the use by artists and signwriters of Roman square capitals in modern lettering, particularly in Britain.[10][11][12][13][14][3]
Around the early twentieth century, British artists in the Arts and Crafts movement led by Edward Johnston came to see the proportions of Roman square capitals as an attractive, timeless form of letters, the ideal for artistic use.[15][16][17][18] Artists who worked in this style included Johnston's pupils Eric Gill, Graily Hewitt, Percy Delf Smith[b] and MacDonald Gill,[19] as well as Reynolds Stone and many other professional signwriters and letter engravers.[20] Roman capitals were used along with lower case, Arabic numerals, italics and calligraphy in a complementary style.[21]
The style has been used for lettering where a feeling of timelessness was wanted, for example on First World War memorials and government buildings, but also on shopfronts, posters, maps, and other general uses.[22][23][24][25] The popular name "Trajan" for this style of lettering came from the lettering on the base of the Trajan Column, copies of which were often used (in theory, at least) as models by lettering artists.[22][26][3] Phil Baines commented that it became "Britain's standard style of official lettering".[27]
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