In this study, a new technique is presented to reduce the dimensions of a strip line monopole antenna. A combination of stub-loaded and defected microstrip structure (DMS) methods are employed to design and built a prototype of a reduced planar monopole performing at UHF band (650 MHz). The method allows achieving a size reduction close to 50%, without modifying, significantly, the parameters of the antenna, including gain, radiation pattern, and polarization. The antenna is suitable to perform in personal communications and can be the basis to extrapolate the application to planar arrays. V C 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 22:272-279, 2012.