2018-10-04 Thu

The first postage stamp of independent Sri Lanka appeared on 22nd may 1972.

Following World War II British Ceylon achieved independence on 4 February 1948. However, the nation faced a series of political upheavals doing the following years. Finally in 1972, a new constitution was adopted, the country officially became a republic and the name of the country was changed to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka which was then under the British rule and was called Ceylon, issued its first postage stamp on 1st April 1857 depicting the profile of the British Monarch Victoria in denomination of 6 penny. The first postage stamp in Sri Lankan rupees was issued on 1st February 1892 and on 22nd May 1972 the Republic of Sri Lanka issued its first stamp.

The stamp is come with the denomination of 15cents. It features the sun rising behind the Mountains of Sri Lanka denoting the rays of freedom over the nation. The stamp also depicts the national flower i.e. a lotus at the foot of the mountain. The right panel of the stamp is inscribed with the name of the country and the denomination in three languages i.e. Sinhala, Tamil and English along with the coat of arms of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka is the only country to include details in a stamp in three languages viz. Sinhala, Tamil and English.

Image Courtesy: http://www.catstamps.org