Mangala Bandara

Postage stamps and postal history of Sri Lanka

This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka, known as Ceylon before 22 May 1972, is an island country in South Asia, located about 31 km off the southern coast of India. After over two thousand years of rule by local kingdoms, parts of Sri Lanka were colonized by Portugal and the Netherlands beginning in the 16th century, before control of the entire country passed to Britain in 1815. A nationalist political movement arose in the country in the early 20th century with the aim of obtaining political independence, which was eventually granted by the British after peaceful negotiations in 1948

British colony stamps

The first stamps for Ceylon were issued on 1 April 1857.^[1] The stamp features a portrait of Queen Victoria and is brown in colour. It is a 6 pence value used to send a half ounce letter from Ceylon to England. Eight more stamps were issued in year 1857, all featuring the portrait of Queen Victoria. One of the 5 stamps that were issued on 23 April 1859 is considered to be the most valuable stamp in Sri Lanka: it is a 4 pence with a dark pink colour known as the 'Dull Rose'.^[2]

1857 Victoria on 6 pence
1859 Victoria on 1 sh 9 p - Cert. B.P.A.
1888 Double Inverted Surcharge

First Sri Lankan and Ceylon Stamps

January 10, 2011 in Sri Lanka

The very first Sri Lankan postal stamp was released in penny denominations in On the 1st April, 1857. At that time Sri Lanka was know as Ceylon. Britain introduced the postage stamp to the world in 1852 and after five year they introduce it to Sri Lanka. Stamps were in Shilling and Pence. First stamps were printed with the face Queen Victoria in different colour combinations, such as green, blue, dull rose, brown and etc. Subsequently there were many issues with King Edward VII (1903-1910), King George V (1912-1935), King George VI (1938-1947). The first stamps in rupees and cents was on 1 February 1892. Ceylon turned out to be a republic within the Commonwealth in May 1972 and also the name of the country had been transformed to Sri Lanka.