The Pall Mall brand was introduced in 1899 by the Black Butler Company (UK) in an attempt to cater to the upper class with the first "premium" cigarette.

It is named after Pall Mall, a well-known street in the St James's area of London, containing several of the private clubs which such people patronized.

[citation needed] Pall Mall reached the height of its popularity in 1960 when it was the number one brand of cigarette in America.

In the 1940s, Pall Mall had its own grammatically incorrect slogan which touted it as the cigarette which "travels the smoke further", referencing the longer 85 mm length.

There is a banner underneath the shield that holds another Latin phrase, "In hoc signo vinces" or "By this sign shall you conquer".

[citation needed] In 2009, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company changed the flavor descriptors of all the Pall Mall brand hard packs to color designations.

[citation needed] In 2015, the FDA required that two varieties of Pall Mall be removed from stores, Deep Set Recessed Filter (blue) and Deep Set Recessed Filter Menthol, as well as Camel Crush Bold and Vantage Tech 13.

[citation needed] Pall Mall sponsored the radio shows Ripley's Believe It or Not in the 1940s and The Big Story in the 1940s and 1950s.