The widespread usage of the royal arms of England on the islands led many residents to consider the arms a symbol of Jersey. The claimed usage by the island of the arms was sanctioned by Edward VII in 1907. During the German occupation in the Second World War, the dependency was allowed to print its own postage stamps for the first time given its inability to access supplies from mainland Britain. However, it was barred from utilising the image of the monarch or any reference of Jersey's connection to the United Kingdom. One inhabitant, N. V. L. Rybot, suggested employing the island's coat of arms instead. This design was approved – with the Germans apparently unaware that it was also the royal arms of the monarch – and the stamps were first issued on 1 April 1941.